Mbane Aware Of Massive Netherlands Challenge

Banyana Banyana star Bambanani Mbane says their game against the Netherlands will be a huge mental test to prepare them for the upcoming Africa Women’s Cup of Nations.

Mbane, 32, recently scooped the Hollywood Bets and Safja Women’s Player of the Season award for her role in guiding Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies to a historic treble, which included the inaugural CAF Women’s Champions League title.

And now with a promising crop of talent emerging in the Banyana squad under the technical leadership of two-time CAF Women’s Coach Of the Year Desiree Ellis, there’s a real sense of optimism that they could lift their first-ever Nations Cup title – when they travel to Morocco in July.

Preparing for the North African journey, they face off against the fifth-ranked nation in the world, which is 52 spots higher than Banyana (57th), which Mbane admits will be a massive challenge for their squad.

“Mental approach going into the game? We not to be strong you know, as you know Netherlands are one of the big teams in the world, so mentally we have to be strong,” she said ahead of the game on Tuesday.

“Netherlands are one the best teams, we all know it’s not going to be easy but I’m happy about the way the team is performing, the team spirit, we all have the same mentality, we’ll learn a lot from this ahead of AFCON to see how for as a team we’ve come and where we need to improve.”

South Africa face off against Leeuwinnen on Tuesday evening at the Kyocera Stadium in the Hague at 18h45.

Banyana Announce Squad To Face Netherlands