Banyana Banyana COSAFA squad coach Simphiwe Dludlu has explained the reason for the squad she has assembled for the COSAFA cup.
The competition takes place in Gqeberha from August 31st. This will be a youthful, makeshift squad with a lot of unfamiliar faces. It features youngsters as well as older players with experience.
According to Dludlu, the reason behind her selection is to give upcoming players exposure and experience. While for older players, another opportunity to play for the nation again.
“This COSAFA team will be a different team competing because of the regular players that always feature on the Banyana Banyana team. It is a team I’ve put together to make sure I get to see what they bring to the table,” Dludlu told the media.
“This competition is going to allow us to give those players the exposure and opportunity to play. We got 16-year-olds in the team and 17-year-olds in the team. There are other older players in the team in critical positions; we need to be wary of that.”
The 34-year-old further revealed that the COSAFA cup would improve the Banyana squad’s quality as they prepare for the Women’s FIFA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand next year.
“I want to make sure we improve and make the squad bigger for Banyana Banyana. Desiree Ellis’ mandate is to ensure she takes the best squad to the World Cup next year.”
“We’ve won the WAFCON. How will it be great if we have a big pool of players to compete week in, week out? They know what it means to be exposed to an international level,” Dludlu added.
Banyana open their campaign against Angola on Wednesday at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium. Kickoff is at 15:30.
