Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis.
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Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis believes her team will be ready for the formidable test against Japan at the Yanmar Hanasaka Stadium in Osaka on Saturday (kick-off at 08:50 SA time) despite missing some key regulars.
The Japanese are the current Asian champions and are ranked No. 5 in the world. Banyana are 58th in the FIFA rankings.
The task will be even tougher with Banyana being without defender Lebohang Ramalepo because of exam commitments, while Amogelang Motau, Hilda Magaia, and Shakira O’Malley are also absent due to injuries.
“We have a couple of players missing, but that’s the norm in football. When players are not available due to injuries, it allows others to step up,” Ellis said.
“Hopefully, they grab that opportunity. It makes our decisions to select players more difficult, which is what we want as coaches. We are looking forward to the challenge, just like the players.”
Banyana do, however, have the full complement of the 23 selected players, with Scotland-based midfielder Linda Motlhalo and defender Bongeka Gamede, who plies her trade in Denmark, having joined the team in Osaka.
Ellis already put her charges through a training session on Wednesday afternoon, shaking off the jet lag from a 20-hour flight. She is now looking forward to facing the Nadeshiko as Banyana put the final touches on their preparation for next month’s CAF Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON 2026), which will be staged in Morocco from 26 July to 16 August.
“I don’t think it will affect us that much. We have a few days to get ready for the game. We will take as much time off as we can in the days leading up to the game to make sure that everyone understands as much as they can, and as much as we can give them,” Ellis said.
“I think we have played a lot of West African countries and two North African teams, which gave us different challenges. Japan will give us a completely different challenge, so we want to make sure that when we go to WAFCON, we have faced all these different challenges and will have solutions for them if anything arises during the tournament. They are a top team — 2011 World Cup winners as well as current Asian champions —so they will really test us. We can take lessons from that and see how we can adapt,” she added.