South Africa will be without long-time coach Desiree Ellis, after she declined to sign the four-year contract extension that the South African Football Association (SAFA) said had been offered to her. Last week, the governing body claimed that Africa’s most decorated women’s football coach had been offered a four-year deal. 

They failed to mention that she had been coaching the national team on a month-to-month contract for quite some time, or that she had yet to sign any long-term agreement. This latest development adds to the growing list of actions by Safa that signal a lack of respect and regard for the women’s game in South Africa.

Refiloe Jane. Photo: X

On top of not having Ellis in charge of the team, they are also without several of their key and experienced players.

In Ellis’s absence, assistant coach Thinasonke Mbuli has taken charge of the team for the two-legged qualifier. Should South Africa win, they will book their place at the next Wafcon.

The pressure is on Banyana to deliver on Wednesday night, and captain Refiloe Jane said the team just needs to find their rhythm on the pitch.

“It is very important to qualify for WAFCON, so the result is what matters most for the team,” said the seasoned campaigner.

“With the changes that DRC have made, it won’t be easy. We’ll need to prepare well and aim for a positive result.”

Thinasonke Mbuli. Photot: X

Mbuli added that there is very little separating the two sides and expects a tough contest. 

“I think DR Congo and Banyana Banyana are in a similar position,” said Mbuli.

“We lost our last game at WAFCON to Ghana, but perhaps the advantage for DR Congo is that they were in a tough group with Morocco and Zambia. Even though they didn’t make it to the knockouts, those matches might have helped them prepare well for these qualifiers.”

Wednesday night’s qualifier in Kinshasa kicks off at 18:00.

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek mvh