Banyana Banyana coach names squad for Malawi friendlies
- Peter Kanjere
- Mar 22
- 1 min read
South Africa senior women’s national team coach Desiree Ellis has named a strong squad for next month’s friendlies against Malawi’s Scorchers.
Banyana Banyana will host the Scorchers on April 5 and 8 to prepare for the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations finals scheduled for Morocco from 5 to 26 July.
Ellis has picked most of the players who were part of the tour of Jamaica last November except injured Bambanani Mbane, Karabo Dhlamini, and Wendy Shongwe and Refiloe Jane.
Young JVW FC goalkeeper Casey Gordon is a notable inclusion in the squad alongside 37-year-old Mpumi Nyandeni, USA-based defender Shakira O’Malley and TP Mazembe forward Kgaelebane Mohlakoana.
The South African coach admitted that she did not include other players due to reasons such as injuries.
“There are more names we could have added, but let’s focus on the young players as we haven’t seen enough of them. It’s going to be a very good challenge for us over two legs,” the Banyana Banyana coach told South African Football Association media.
South Africa are coming from wins over Lesotho in recent warm-up matches while Malawi also played two friendlies in neighbouring Zambia where they won one game and lost once.