Banyana Banyana coach, Desiree Ellis, believes that the COSAFA Women’s Championship will provide her with another opportunity to test players.
South Africa were drawn in Group A with Malawi, Madagascar and Eswatini and tournament will be hosted in Gauteng from October 4-15.
“This is another opportunity for us to bring in some players into the system,” Ellis told Safa.com.
“We have a big year – we play against the USA this month, and then two weeks after the COSAFA Women’s Championship we are back in camp.
“We play the Olympic qualifiers in October and towards the end of November, we have the WAFCON qualifiers, so it is a busy period.
“It is another opportunity for us to test players. It is another opportunity for us to make the core group bigger because we have used it (COSAFA Women’s Championship) over the years to test players.”
Banyana Banyana made history when they reached the round of 16 in the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup held in New Zealand and Australia.
In Group B, defending champions Zambia face Mozambique, Angola and Comoros, while Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana and Lesotho will battle it out in Group C.
Banyana Banyana will travel to the USA on Sunday 17 September 2023 for two friendly internationals.
2023 COSAFA WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP DRAW
GROUP A
South Africa
Malawi
Madagascar
Eswatini
GROUP B
Zambia
Mozambique
Angola
Comoros
GROUP C
Namibia
Botswana
Zimbabwe
Lesotho