By Michael Madyira
Banyana Banyana’s readiness for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World is set to be tested when they play out a four-nation tournament in Turkey in March.
Other participants at the four-nation meeting are the hosts, who will also be joined by Slovakia and Uzbekistan. Turkey and Slovakia have never qualified for any major tournament, while Uzbekistan have been at the AFC Women’s Asian Cup.
Safa chief executive officer Tebogo Motlanthe says they are tying up loose ends before final confirmation of the Turkey trip.
“I’ll meet our technical director and COO to finalise what we have to present to tournament organisers before they get back to us with final confirmation,” he said.
“But yes, this is something in the pipeline and the likelihood of us going to Turkey for this tournament is very high.”
After Banyana endured difficult outings in international friendlies last year, opponents at the Turkey tournament are expected to restore South Africa’s confidence.
Preparations for the World Cup have been ruthless experiences so far, following heavy defeats by Brazil and Australia. They lost 3-0 and 6-0 in back-to-back friendlies against Brazil at Orlando Stadium and Moses Mabhida Stadium respectively last September.
They then travelled to London the following month, where Australia upstaged them 4-1.
Following these results, Safa are eyeing securing at least six practice matches before Banyana head to the World Cup.
South Africa will be looking for their first win at the World Cup after ending the previous tournament winless. They went down 3-1 to Spain, lost 1-0 to China, and were beaten 4-0 by Germany.
The women’s World Cup will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand from 20 July to 20 August 2023.
Image source: Banyana Banyana
This time around, the African champions are in Group G with Sweden, Argentina and Italy.
