Banyana Call Up Replacement Ahead Of World Cup

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis had to call up Siphumelele Shamase onto her replacement list for the 2023 Women’s FIFA World Cup after Nthabiseng Majiya picked up an injury.

Majiya, 19, was one of the surprise inclusions at the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, where she scored in the 1-0 win over Botswana in the group stages.

The young talent was one of the three players on Banyana’s stand-by list for the World Cup, but had to be replaced by UJ player Shamase.

“The 23-member squad as selected by coach Desiree Ellis is in camp, however, there was a change in the standby list (which also travelled to New Zealand) with youngster Nthabiseng Majiya released from the camp due to an injury and Siphumelele Shamase of UJ FC was called up as a replacement,” Banyana’s media team confirmed.

All players have now arrived in New Zealand ahead of the World Cup, after leaving South Africa in two groups on Wednesday and Thursday.

“The team travelled in two separate groups due to insufficient business class seats in the first flight from Johannesburg,” SAFA confirmed.

“The South African Football Association committed to ensuring that the whole team travelled to the FIFA Women’s World Cup on business class. 

“The first group left South Africa on Wednesday evening (5 July 2023) while the second group left the country on Thursday (6 July 2023).”

Banyana will take on Sweden in their World Cup opener on 23 July. They will face Costa Rica in their final warm-up friendly on 15 July.