banyana banyana

Gabriela de Jesus Salgado of South Africa challenged by Fatima Lourenco Faria of Angola during the 2020 COSAFA Womens Cup match between South Africa and Angola at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium, Port Elizaberth on the 03 November 2020 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

Banyana kick off Cosafa title defence with victory over Angola

A youthful Banyana Banyana side dominated, but toiled hard for their 2-0 victory over Angola in the Cosafa Women’s Championship.

banyana banyana

Gabriela de Jesus Salgado of South Africa challenged by Fatima Lourenco Faria of Angola during the 2020 COSAFA Womens Cup match between South Africa and Angola at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium, Port Elizaberth on the 03 November 2020 ©Muzi Ntombela/BackpagePix

Banyana Banyana got their Cosafa Women’s Championship title defence to a perfect start with a hard-fought 2-0 victory against Angola in Port Elizabeth on Tuesday.

The match was the first outing in months for the host nation, and this was apparent as the usually free-flowing football associated with the South Africans was only visible in glimpses.

Straightforward victory for Banyana Banyana 

However, Banyana dominated proceedings throughout the 90 minutes, despite only breaking the deadlock six minutes from the break.

The breakthrough came through teenager, Lonathemba Mhlongo, who got on the end of some beautiful interplay in the midfield to poke home from close range.

Hildah Magaia could have made it 2-0 before the halftime whistle, but the Angola defence rallied well to snuff out any chance of another goal.

After the break, coach Desiree Ellis made a double change, taking off the goal-scorer, who was replaced by Karabo Dhlamini, while Nonhlanhla Mthandi came on for Mapula Kgoale.

That proved to be an inspired change, with Dhlamini making an immediate impact as she doubled the lead on the hour-mark.

The next half hour was not short of chances, but there was no one to extend the lead, but Banyana had enough control of the game to maintain the 2-0 gap.

South Africa’s next fixture is against neighbours, Eswatini on Thursday, 6 November. Kick-off is at 15:30 (SAST).

Cosafa Women’s Championship fixtures

POOL STAGES    
DateGroupFixtureKOVenue
03-NovAEswatini vs Comoros12h30Wolfson Stadium
03-NovASouth Africa vs Angola15h30Wolfson Stadium
04-NovBZambia vs Lesotho12h30Wolfson Stadium
04-NovCZimbabwe vs Tanzania15h30Wolfson Stadium
06-NovAComoros vs Angola12h30Wolfson Stadium
06-NovAEswatini vs South Africa15h30Wolfson Stadium
07-NovCBotswana vs Tanzania12h30Wolfson Stadium
07-NovBMalawi vs Lesotho15h30Wolfson Stadium
09-NovCZimbabwe vs Botswana12h30Gelvandale Stadium
09-NovBZambia vs Malawi12h30Wolfson Stadium
09-NovAAngola vs Eswatini15h30Gelvandale Stadium
09-NovASouth Africa vs Comoros15h30Wolfson Stadium
SEMIFINALS
DateMatchFixtureKOVenue
12-Nov131st Grp B vs Best Runner-up12h00Wolfson Stadium
12-Nov141st Grp A vs 1st Grp C15h30Wolfson Stadium
FINAL
14-Nov15Winner M13 vs Winner M1415h00Wolfson Stadium