Sasol Banyana Banyana coach Dr Desiree Ellis was full of praise of her young brigade, despite falling 2-1 to Namibia in the final of the 2025 COSAFA Women’s Championship at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane on Sunday.
Dr Ellis said she also had an eye on the future while participating in the regional tournament. “I am very proud of the team, they were brave, they showed a lot of courage, they were stretched to the limits and we have a bigger core group now because of this. We have a couple of 16/17/18-year-olds in the team, not the experience they would have wanted but I think that the medal will remind them to never get the same feeling. This was a worthwhile exercise, and we can now safely say there is a great future for South African women’s football,” said Dr Ellis.
On a hot Polokwane afternoon, Banyana Banyana had made three changes to the team that defeated Zimbabwe in the semifinals, with Sibongakonke Mzobe, Bongiwe Thusi and Bonolo Mokoma getting the nod ahead of Sibulele Holweni, Gabriela Moodaly-Salgado and Isabella Ludwig.
The move seemed to pay dividends as Mokoma hit the crossbar with a thunderous shot early in the game before Nthabiseng Majiya put the home side ahead in the 38th minute, her second of the tournament.
The Brave Warriors returned rejuvenated from the break and restored parity shortly thereafter in the 54th minute through substitute Muhinatjo Hanavi with a long-range shot. Neither side was able to get a goal with the match going into extra time. It was Namibia who stunned the hosts in the first half of extra-time with a goal that gave them the lead for the first time in the game, and they held on for a win, lifting their first-ever COSAFA Women’s Championship trophy.
“Goals win you matches, and I think throughout the game even before extra-time we had enough chances to make sure that we win the game. I thought we conceded poorly, but as I said this is a young group. We played five games, obviously they (Namibia) looked a bit fresher towards the end of the game, they played four games. Winning a gold medal would have been fantastic but we fell short. We must also congratulate Namibia, they were resolute, they defended really well,” added Dr Ellis.
South Africa had six different scorers in the tournament with Majiya grabbing two, while Mokoma, Moodaly-Salgado, Nonhlanhla Mthandi, Thorisho Mphelo and Sibulele Holweni scored one each. Zambia clinched bronze when they defeated Zimbabwe 3-1 in the third and fourth place play-off.
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