21 February 2025 – Banyana Banyana coach Dr Desiree Ellis flashed a fleeting smile as she made her way off a surprisingly sun-bathed University of Johannesburg Auckland Park Campus stadium on Friday afternoon.
She had just concluded her final training session ahead of Saturday’s international friendly match against neighbours Lesotho, just a few kilometers away at the University of Johannesburg Soweto Campus (kick off is at 13h00). The multiple award-winning CAF Women’s Coach of the Year’s brief twinkle was understandable as it came after a long week of hard toil under heavy Johannesburg dark skies.
Most of the good doctor’s training sessions, including the Banyana Banyana goalkeeper training camp that was held this past weekend, were conducted under the grip of unrelenting rain that thankfully stopped falling on Friday as the sun finally forced its way through stubborn dark clouds. South African Football Association (SAFA) President Dr Danny Jordaan and NEC member Job Mchunu dropped in during the MD-1 training to offer their support during the session.
After that brief survey of the players in her camp, Dr Ellis said the idea behind this test against our neighbours and the accompanying training camp was to bring in new players and see if they can be added to the core group of the Sasol-sponsored South African senior women’s national team.
“It’s also great to see which of the players can step up because it’s really important we make sure that the core group is bigger, but also to give them an opportunity to see if they can step up, and if we can integrate them immediately into the senior group of players,” Dr Ellis said.
“The important thing with this integration of bringing players in now is to look at which players we can integrate into the more senior group and it will make it so much easier because they’ve already had a taste of what it is to be in the national team, so that when they do come back it’s not like they’re coming in and ‘boom’, it’s a shock to the system.”
Kick off at the University of Johannesburg Soweto Campus is at 13h00 and entry to the Banyana Banyana vs Lesotho friendly international is free.
