22 February 2025 – Banyana Banyana beat Lesotho 1-0 in the first international friendly between the two neighbouring countries in a match played at the University of Johannesburg’s Soweto Campus on Saturday afternoon.
The lone strike that separated the two sides came off the boot of Nobahle Mdelwa who converted from the penalty spot to score the only goal of the match in the 50th minute.
Coach Dr Desiree Ellis is preparing for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in July and is using these matches to widen the pool of players with an eye on the African champions’ defence of the continental title.
“There were some good moments, and there were some not so good moments. But I think the not so good moments came from a lack of movement off the ball because when we had the movement, we could move the ball around, and when we did that, we looked good,” Dr Ellis said.
“I thought that if we moved a little bit more, especially the two wingers, who were very stagnant up front, they didn’t give us a lot, especially in the first half. The minute they dropped deeper, we were able to play, right? When we lost the ball, they didn’t help us there either. But I thought we had control. At times, it’s not our game to play long, but, you know, when they can’t find anyone, that’s what they do.
“But happy with what we did this week. There were some things that we worked on that worked, and there were some things that didn’t work. But as I said, it’s a short period of time with a young group and we wanted them to play. We said, let’s just go out and play.”
The Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana return to the same venue on Tuesday to host Lesotho in the second match of the two-game series.
