Banyana rising star not available for selection

Banyana Banyana mentor Desiree Ellis has confirmed that Blackburn Rovers defender Faith Nokuthula Ngwenya will not be available for selection when her side takes on Australia in a friendly international clash.

Coach Ellis revealed that Nokuthula’s documents are “yet to be sorted”, but it was ideal for her to have the ex-Brighton and Hove Albion star player in her squad.

South Africa will lock horns with the co-hosts of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup in London on Saturday, 8 October 2022.

REASON WHY FAITH NOT AVAILABLE FOR SELECTION

“Unfortunately, Faith is not available for selection because her documents are not sorted as yet,” the three-time CAF Women’s Coach of the Year told the media in a press conference on Friday.

“But it was ideal to have her in our camp in order to have a look at her.”

The 2022 WAFCON winning coach went on to divulge that she has been “monitoring” the 20-year-old’s journey since the year 2018.

“Well, many people don’t know that I have been monitoring Faith since 2018 because we get reports, and we get to watch some of the games,” she added.

 “So, at the time, she was still very young, playing for the youth team at Brighton. Now, she has moved to Blackburn, obviously, so I have been watching her a couple of times.

“Coming to England is a better way to look at someone who is not based in the country [South Africa].

“She is very good on the ball and doesn’t give the ball away so cheaply from what we saw from the training session.”

Ellis believes that Nokuthula would add international experience to her backline, which seems to be sorely lacking in some of the matches they had played.

“It is really something good having her in the camp being a young player. I think she can really add value to the squad moving forward,” she explained.

Meanwhile, Banyana will also be without the services of highly-rated shot-stopper Andile Dlamini, who is out due to family bereavement.