Banyana Banyana will be looking to clinch the consolation prize of third place at the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON 2024) on Friday night.
South Africa face Ghana for a second time at WAFCON 2024 for a bronze medal as the West Africans look to exit the tournament on a high although there remains disappointment within the defending champions’ camp.
Banyana Banyana came to the tournament looking to defend their crown but a heartbreaking loss to record winners Nigeria in the semi-final on Tuesday left them with a match no team likes to play.
Form guide
South Africa suffered their first defeat in 12 matches when Nigeria beat them 2-1 at the semi-final although they were the better side by the time Michelle Alozie scored the winning goal deep into injury time.
Desiree Ellis’ team were badly affected by the horrific injury suffered by midfielder Gabriela Salgado in the latter stages of the match which saw her break her left leg and the players were left in shock and tears.
When the match resumed, South Africa could not handle the final minutes and their shock at the injury was evident when Alozie scored from a speculative shot that easily went past everyone, including goalkeeper Andile Dlamini.
The outgoing African champions had started their tournament with a 2-0 win over Ghana, followed by a 1-1 draw with Tanzania before thrashing Mali 4-0, all at the group stage and needed post-match penalties to beat Senegal in the quarter-finals.
Meanwhile, Ghana lost 2-1 to Morocco in the semi-finals, having taken the game to extra time, coming after they had edged out Algeria in the quarter-final.
They went to the quarter-final after securing four points at the group stage, thanks to a 1-1 draw with Mali and a 4-1 thrashing of Tanzania.
Head-to-head
This will be the sixth meeting between the two teams and in their previous five matchups, South Africa have two wins, two ending in draws and one win for Ghana.
South Africa’s most recent win came at the group stages of the current tournament and they will fancy themselves to make it two wins from as many at WAFCON 2024.
Team news
Banyana Banyana will definitely miss Salgado, who is out for the rest of the year, after undergoing surgery while Tiisetso Makhubela is also likely to be out after she was stretchered off in the 26th minute of Tuesday’s semi-final.
Will this be Desiree Ellis’ final match?
Question marks remain on the future of coach Desiree Ellis, who went into the tournament without a formal contract, and suffered the disappointment of failing to defend the crown.
The 62-year-old has admitted she will make a decision after the tournament, hinting at the possibility of calling it quits, after nine years in charge of Banyana Banyana.
“Obviously, when we get back home, I’ll take a little bit of a break and we’ll sit down and then see the way forward from there,” Ellis said as quoted by SuperSport.
“Obviously, the ambition was to get to the final and go back-to-back, so it’s a bit of disappointment not reaching (the final), but obviously we still have a game to play and we want to end up on a high note.
“We've played against Ghana and it's always difficult to play the same side twice in the tournament. But we'll give it our best shot,” she added.
Time and where to watch
The match will kick off at 21:00 South African time at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca and will be live on both SABC and SuperSport TV.
Banyana Banyana predicted line-up
Swart; Ramalepe, Dhlamini, Mbane, Magama; Jane, Gamede, Holweni; Seoposenwe, Motlhalo, Magaia
