{"id":152802,"date":"2026-03-25T15:24:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T15:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/152802\/"},"modified":"2026-03-25T15:24:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T15:24:08","slug":"algeria-and-japan-friendlies-good-prep-for-wafcon","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/152802\/","title":{"rendered":"Algeria and Japan friendlies good prep for Wafcon"},"content":{"rendered":"

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis is adamant international friendlies against Algeria in April and Japan in June will help them prepare and adapt to any challenges they will face at the Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations<\/a> (Wafcon) in Morocco later this year.<\/p>\n

SA take on Algeria on April 14 and 17 at the venue yet to be announced.<\/p>\n

The two matches will serve as a critical rebuilding phase for Ellis\u2019 side following their disappointing performance at the Wafcon in Morocco last year, where they finished fourth. They are looking to reclaim their title and also qualify for the 2027 Fifa Women\u2019s World Cup.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe played a lot of physical teams last year; the last friendly was a North African team, Morocco. Algeria also brings a little bit of physicality but a lot of difference in terms of being very good on the counter,\u201d Ellis said after she named the 24-woman squad on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey played a low block during Wafcon last year, and I think they will challenge us in different ways. I think leading up to Wafcon, we want as many different challenges as we can so we can adapt during the tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ellis also revealed what challenge Japan will present to them in June, their final friendly before Wafcon, saying they will make them ready for the tournament<\/a>. \u201cWe played them in 2019, if I\u2019m not mistaken, for an international friendly as well as a training match. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking forward now to preparing for the World Cup, getting international teams like Japan. I think, similar to us, they always had this same DNA of players, technically very good,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have to be very good, tactically, and I think that will help us going forward to Wafcon because we are going to face different challenges. If there are other challenges, these matches will help us to adapt to whatever happens at Wafcon. <\/p>\n

\u201cJapan just won the Asian Cup, beating Australia in the final, and that\u2019s really going to help us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Banyana have been drawn in Group B alongside Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso and Tanzania.<\/p>\n

Banyana squad<\/p>\n

Goalkeepers: Andile Dlamini, Kaylin Swart, Katlego Moletsane<\/p>\n

Defenders: Sinegugu Zondi, Fikile Magama, Antonia Maponya, Shakira O\u2019Malley, Lonathemba Mhlongo, Bambanani Mbane, Karabo Dhlamini and Khutso Pila<\/p>\n

Midfielders: Linda Motlhalo, Lebohang Ramalepe, Noxolo Cesane, Nonhlanhla Mthandi, Refiloe Jane and Amogelang Motau<\/p>\n

Forwards: Thorisho Mphelo, Bonolo Mokoma, Gabriela Salgado, Hildah Magaia, Nthabiseng Majiya, Wendy Shongwe and Nicole Michael<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis is adamant international friendlies against Algeria in April and Japan in June will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":152803,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[81492,390,81491,81493,15685,2511,6463],"class_list":{"0":"post-152802","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-algeria","8":"tag-african-womens-football","9":"tag-algeria","10":"tag-banyana","11":"tag-banyana-banyana-squad-2024","12":"tag-morocco-wafcon","13":"tag-wafcon","14":"tag-world-cup"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@africa\/116290509953082350","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=152802"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152802\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/152803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=152802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=152802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/africa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=152802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}