Banyana Banyana coach Dr Desiree Ellis says the African champions will not make the mistake of underestimating Senegal when the two teams meet in the quarterfinals of the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) 2024 this weekend.
The clash takes place on Saturday night (19 July 2025) at the Honneur Stadium in Oujda, Morocco with a 21h00 SA time kick off (20h00 local time in Morocco). South Africa finished top of Group C on seven points – two wins and a draw, while the West Africans scraped through as one of the third-best placed teams. The Lionesses of Teranga walloped DR Congo 4-0 in Group A but lost to both Morocco and Zambia.
“They came out of a very difficult group, and it shows the quality that they have. The games that they played – except for the DR Congo match – were very tight, with just one goal in it. They do have the quality, we played them last year in June, but they’ve improved so much and if you look at where they are right now, we really have to be on top of our game,” said Dr Ellis.
“It’s going to be a game of those small margins – the final and knockout games are never easy, so we really have to make sure that we are in charge and everything that we do, we do as best as we can. But keeping a clean sheet will also be of utmost importance.”
The last meeting between Banyana Banyana and Senegal was in two friendly matches in June last year away in Dakar – one draw and a 2-0 victory for South Africa, thanks to goals from Amogelang Motau and Noxolo Cesane.
But Dr Ellis is not dwelling on the past.
“Playing a team before doesn’t mean anything, those results are in the past – this is a competition and they’re not in the quarterfinals by fluke. They are there because they deserve to be there and we have to be on top of our game to make sure that we get the result,” added Dr Ellis.
South Africa has conceded just once in the tournament in three outings, and have had seven different scorers – Linda Motlhalo, Jermaine Seoposenwe, Bambanani Mbane, Lebohang Ramalepe, Refiloe Jane, Hilda Magaia and debutant Ronnel Donnelly.
Motlhalo was part of the squad that faced the Lionesses of Teranga last year, and she concurs with her coach that they need to be on top of their game to triumph against the Senegalese.
“We have played against Senegal before, and they are a very good team. They are growing and so are other African teams – from when we played them to now, there is a huge difference. They also have players that have now signed for overseas teams, which says a lot about Senegal. I think they are looking really good, but we have a plan,” said Motlhalo.
For the West Africans, this is a chance to rewrite the history books. Featuring in only their third WAFCON, they have matched their best finish of the last eight in 2022. Now they intend to go further, but they know that they will have to go through the African champions.
“South Africa are the favourites, they are the better team, and we are the challengers. A win will be good for Senegal because it will be the first time we win this round, but we will need confidence, not give in to pressure and show Senegalese football in this competition. We are also happy to be playing against top teams on the continent like Morocco, Zambia and now South Africa,” said Senegal coach Mousse Cisse.
“We had a difficult path with a lot of obstacles, but our first objective was to qualify, and we managed to do that. Our matches against Morocco and Zambia made us look at things differently and we have corrected our mistakes. Anything is possible when we face South Africa, but we will do our best.”
In the semifinals, the winner of the matchup between Banyana Banyana and Senegal will face off with the victors in the other quarterfinal clash between Nigeria and Zambia.
