Banyana Banyana triumph in Three Nations Challenge

by Staff Reporter

Wednesday Jun 04, 2025. 11:00

Banyana Banyana claimed the Three Nations Challenge trophy on Tuesday with a 2-0 win over Zambia at the Lucas “Masterpieces” Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville.

South Africa emerged as victors in the international friendly series between South Africa, Botswana and Zambia after winning both of their two fixtures while Botswana lost their first match and drew their second, and Zambia drew their first and lost their second.

Bongeka Gamede broke the deadlock against Zambia in the 74th minute with a superb long range freekick which found the top left corner.

Banyana Banyana added a second goal in the 82nd minute, as Jermaine Seoposenwe calmly slotted the ball into the back of the net to put the game out of Zambia’s reach.

Although proud of her side for amending their shaky performance against Botswana, Banyana Banyana head coach Dr Desiree Ellis believes there are still areas for improvement ahead of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in July.

“Today, this was a true team effort. We stuck to the game plan, we denied them space, and we moved the ball around quickly,” Dr Ellis said.

“We still have a lot of work to do. There were moments where Zambia got behind us, and we need to get better at that. Especially in the middle of the park, we gave the ball away unnecessarily.”

Ellis has named a 46-player preliminary squad for WAFCON with the final squad of 21 players to be announced on 23 June.

By Nic Gleeson