Banyana win in series opener against Botswana

Banyana Banyana opened their account in the 2025 #Three Nations Series with a hard fought 3-2 victory against Botswana’s Mares at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville on Wednesday.

The Sasol-sponsored South African senior women’s national team took an early lead in the 13th minute with Adrielle Mibe scoring her maiden Banyana Banyana goal. Jermaine Seoposenwe extended the lead with goals in the 16th and 36th minutes, showcasing her experience and composure on the field.

Botswana responded with determination, as Lesego Radiakanyo netted a goal in the 41st minute, followed by Laone Moloi’s strike in the 63rd minute, narrowing the scoreline and intensifying the match’s competitiveness.

Reflecting on her debut goal, Mibe stated: “I feel great after my first goal, it’s an icebreaker to many more, and I’m happy about it.”

Banyana Banyana coach Dr. Desiree Ellis acknowledged the team’s performance, noting areas for improvement. “The first goal, we knew they were going to play the ball long. The second goal we gave away.

"We said, ‘be patient on the ball, don’t force it’, yet we played into the traffic when we could’ve played wide,” she said.

“A little bit of a lapse in concentration. The tempo went down a bit in the second half. In the first half, it was very high, we moved the ball, but in the second half, we didn’t move the ball around, and we didn’t move around.”

Looking ahead, Dr Ellis emphasized the need for better ball possession. “We could’ve been better in our possession, we gave the ball away a lot in our possession, and we need to be better at that,” she said.

Botswana’s coach, Alex Malete, reflected on his team’s performance. “In the first half, we made a lot of technical errors, where we were not precise in terms of what it is we wanted to do.

"If we’re starting the play from the back, we’re saying we want to attract pressure, but when we attracted pressure, we were not able to identify the moment when we should have played the ball forward so that we can have a lot more advanced area actions.”

Malete also highlighted the next match against Zambia on 31 May 2025, stating: “Against Zambia, we’re going to play a different game to test different approaches.”

The #ThreeNations Series continues with Botswana facing Zambia on 31 May, followed by South Africa’s match against Zambia on 3 June. All matches are scheduled to kick off at 3pm at Lucas Moripe Stadium.

Tickets are available via Ticketpro, priced at R40 for adults and R20 for children. This series provides a critical platform for all three teams to fine-tune their strategies and assess their readiness ahead of the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco in July 2025.