Refiloe Jane outlines importance of Turkish Cup for World Cup-bound Banyana

Banyana Banyana captain Refiloe Jane has outlined the importance of the Turkish Woman’s Cup for the national team ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Led by Refiloe Jane, Banyana started their Turkish Women’s Cup campaign on Saturday, 18 February, on a positive note as they hammered Uzbekistan 3-0.

The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations [WAFCON] champions comfortably beat a nation ranked six spots higher in the FIFA rankings.

Jermaine Seoposenwe and Noxolo Cesane were on target for Banyana, with Tojiddinova Shokhida of Uzbekistan scoring an own goal.

Jane views the Turkish Women’s Cup as a massive and necessary test for Banyana before they embark on their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup journey.

Since there is only one international FIFA break left between the Turkish Cup and the World Cup, Jane also sees the tournament as an opportunity for Banyana to get together and work to improve on their flaws.

She believes that doing this will help them as a team to be prepared for what awaits them later this year in the World Cup.

JANE ON THE IMPORTANCE OF THE TURKISH WOMEN’S CUP FOR BANYANA

“It is very important to have these games that we are going to play now; as I said, they are going to be a good preparation for us going forward,” said Jane.

“We don’t want to spend more time apart as a team. The more time we have together, the easier it is to prepare.

“With the local-based players and overseas-based players, it is difficult to come together when there is no FIFA break.

And looking at the calendar of international matches that we need to play, we don’t have enough time to prepare for that.

“So with the little we get, we need to maximise it and make sure that by the time we get to the big stage.”

Jane added: “At least we have worked on a lot of things, despite the fact that we need to work as individuals back at home with our clubs.

“Also, we still need to put a lot of afford so that when we come here, the coaches just need to focus on the tactical part of the sessions.

“The minimum things that we can do, we just need to do them at our own full time,” she added.

The 2023 Women’s World Cup 2023 will take place in Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20.

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