The Confederation of African Football (Caf), the body that oversees football in the continent of Africa, has appreciated the rescheduling of the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) by the coach of the South African women’s national football team, Desiree Ellis.
On Monday, Caf published a new list of matches for the tournament that will start on July 26, and wrap up on August 16 in Morocco.
Banyana were scheduled to open their Group A games against Tanzania on July 26, face Ivory Coast on July 29, and face Burkina Faso on July 31.
However, it will get more time between games since it will face Tanzania on July 27, play Ivory Coast on July 31, and play Burkina Faso on August 4. All three of these games will be held at the Moulay Rachid Stadium in the city of Casablanca.
“The welfare of the players is always important. More rest time will help the players to prepare better between games and reduce the chances of injury. This will increase the quality of the games and the tournament,” said Ellis speaking to the Safa press team.
“The players are in different stages of preparation for the season, that’s why we have been changing them in our friendly matches. We have been monitoring the time they spend on the field so that we don’t tire them before they are ready to play many minutes.”
This year’s Wafcon is very important since it will be used again to qualify for the World Cup that will be held in Brazil next year.
The four teams that will reserve a place in the semi-finals of Wafcon, will receive tickets to the World Cup.
These four will be defeated in the quarterfinals and will then claim two places to play in the qualifying competition with teams from other continents.
Banyana Banyana is among the best countries in Africa as it usually reaches the semi-finals in Wafcon.
In 2018, the local team finished in second place, losing to Nigeria in the final, and in 2022, they became champions, defeating Morocco. In the latest Wafcon held last year, it finished in fourth place.
The local team has played twice in the World Cup. In 2019 in France it came out of the group stage, and in 2023 in Australia and New Zealand it reached the Last 16.