Banyana Banyana’s performance against Brazil left plenty of questions for the SA women’s national team, coach Desiree Ellis and the SA Football Association (Safa) with less than a year to the 2023 World Cup.
The African champions began their preparation for next year’s global showpiece in July and August in Australia and New Zealand, with a 9-0 aggregate defeat to the world’s ninth-ranked side. The rude awakening was not only the lopsided results of the two matches but also the schoolgirl mistakes Ellis’s side committed. Banyana’s friendly against the Netherlands in March — part of their preparations for the Wafcon in Morocco in July — was a 5-1 defeat.
It’s not an unfamiliar pattern for Banyana. While they have clinched their maiden Wafcon after being runners-up five times and are comfortably in the top three in Africa, when Banyana step up to the broader international stage, they struggle.
Ellis and Safa have to put their heads together on what can be done in a year to close that gap.
It is key for SA to test themselves against the world’s top-ranked team, but it will be in vain if the team continues to commit the same mistakes. Do Safa arrange top teams, or a mix of mid-strength and strong sides? Because a line-up of the world’s best, while it can impart necessary experience, could also backfire.
Though SA saw several players move to good clubs abroad after the 2019 World Cup in France, former coach Joseph Mkhonza insists that having more players competing in professional leagues would be beneficial to the national team.
“As our football doesn’t have a professional league for women, this [lopsided defeats to the world’s best] is what is going to happen. Our players in Europe can help Banyana compete in Africa, but when we play against opposition who have players in stronger leagues, we won’t match them,” Mkhonza said.
Though Safa’s national Hollywoodbets Super League, launched in 2019, was a step up in SA women’s football it is still not a professional league. Several players and administrators still have full-time employment.
“Some things are going to take a bit of time because our players are not professional,” Mkhonza said. “If we played against strong opposition in our league, then it would be simple for Banyana to organise themselves and be calm.
“Yes, we lost the two games, but I think it’s better we lose now, see all our mistakes, and not when we head to the World Cup. We need to play strong opposition so the players can grow.”
One of the biggest obstacles for Banyana has been team selection. Ellis’s decision-making has raised questions for some time.
Players who compete in the Sasol League — the watered-down precursor to the Super League that consists of multiple regional leagues — haven’t been considered for the national team for a while, even though some are top performers. Regular top goalscorer contenders in the Super League have also not made it into Ellis’s squad for a few years, even though Banyana struggle to find the back of the net in different competitions.
However, certain players don’t lose their place in the national team even when they don’t perform for their clubs, are injured or are not getting game time at their clubs.
Ellis’ apparent favouritism and allegiance to some teams has been questioned. The University of the Western Cape (UWC) and JVW FC seem to always have players in the national squad regardless of form. If there is favouritism, this would create divisions in the locker room. Intensifying such speculation is that Ellis’s Banyana assistant, Thinasonke Mbuli, is head coach at UWC. The omission of many of the Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies players who won the inaugural Caf Women’s Champions League in 2021 has been another question mark.
Against a women's coaching icon, Brazil’s Swedish boss Pia Sundhage, at times Ellis looked out of her depth. After the Wafcon there were comparisons to Clive Barker, the only men’s coach to win an Afcon with Bafana Bafana in 1996. But can Ellis take Banyana up the notch they need?
Banyana legend Fikile Sithole, part of the first national women’s squad in 1993, feels some players are too relaxed in Ellis’s squad as they feel they are entitled to a place.
“When I was still playing, every time we went to camp there would be a lot of players called to the squad for selection, but now some players are comfortable that they will be in the team. This makes people undisciplined,” Sithole said.
“People need to be on their toes, make sure that they are fit and ready at any time. The national team is for everyone who plays football in SA, but I feel they are relaxed. There are certain players that she shouldn’t be calling up any more. If there are players that have to be dropped, then so be it. There is plenty of talent [in the country].”
Sithole and Mkhonza agree that a bigger pool of players would give the coaches more options.
In 2011 Mkhonza had to host a big selection camp that would see Banyana have two teams, one to compete at the All Africa Games in Mozambique, while the other would participate in the final round of the London Olympic qualifiers. Something similar did happen this week when the two friendlies against Brazil consisted mostly of players who won the Women’s Afcon in Morocco. At the same time another, younger team took part in the Cosafa Women’s Championship in Gqeberha, led by SA under-17 Simphiwe Dludlu.
Mkhonza believes this is the way to go. “A bigger pool helps us not to rely on certain players, to know that in every position you have four or five players. Some of my players who went to Mozambique, ended up going to London for the Olympics, like Andisiwe [Mgcoyi] and Zamandosi [Nene née Cele]. The national team can only grow from here rather than relying on one team. The bigger the pool the easier for the coach to select players.”
Ellis will have to relook at the current squad and make some changes if she wants to help the team give a better showing of themselves than the 2019 World Cup, where they lost 3-1 against Spain, 1-0 against China and 4-0 against Germany to exit in the group stage. Hopefully the drubbing by Brazil won’t make Safa shy away from securing more strong opponents as Banyana continue their preparations.
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