Banyana Banyana will meet old foes Nigeria in the Cyprus Women’s Cup on Wednesday, in a battle for ninth place in the competition.
Banyana finished bottom of Group A after collecting just one point in their three matches, while Nigeria were in third place in Group C with one victory and two defeats.
Banyana drew 2-2 in their opening match against Finland, before losing 4-1 to North Korea and 2-1 to Czech Republic.
They will now face the side they lost to in last year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations final in Ghana, the Super Falcons.
Banyana have been using the Cyprus Women’s Cup to prepare for the FIFA World Cup, to take place in France from June 7 to July 7. After the defeat to the Czech Republic, Banyana coach Desiree Ellis said: “Not ideal. I think it’s our worst ever. From getting best position last our. But we came here to try different things and look at players. Obviously you come to win and we are no different. Almost all the players played, except for Noko [Matlou].
We had a look at others and we have a better understand of who can and who can’t, and that was key for us as well. It was also key for us to have a plan A and B, which we did. “We want to give players and opportunity and try play them in different. It helps us to have a better underdstanding what players can offer You could get injuries at the World Cup, so if you have not tried different things then you don’t have a plan A and B, or even C.