Banyana Banyana coach Dr Desiree Ellis has expressed mixed feelings after the team was held to a 1-1 draw by a 10-player Tanzania in a 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) Group C match played at the Honneur Stadium in Oujda, Morocco.
The defending African champions went into the match as favourites, against the lowly ranked east African nation.
But the Twiga Stars took advantage of Banyana Banyana erratic performance and took the lead in the 24th minute through Opah Clement’s goal.
Banyana Banyana regrouped after the first half break and equalized through Bambanani Mbane following a corner kick in the 70th minute.
The Tanzanians were reduced to ten players after Winfrida Hubert Gerald was red carded with ten minutes remaining, following a bad tackle on Linda Motlhalo.
The South Africans failed to take advantage of the situation and registered their first draw at the tournament.
Ellis said the team could have applied more pressure on their opponents and converted their chances.
“We had a good enough team to get a result.
They scored early, and we had a chance to score before they could, we didn’t put it away, it is the nature of the game.
We didn’t get the result we wanted but we are still in it.
I thought the comeback was good.
We could have won it as we had a couple of chances, but that’s how the game goes,” said Ellis who was speaking with SAFA Media.
Banyana Banyana and Mali are tied on four points each, while Tanzania and Ghana managed to register one point each.
South Africa will now play their final Group C match against Mali on Monday, while Tanzania will tackle Ghana on the same day.
