Banyana overcome stuttering start to beat Namibia in COSAFA opener

Tshegofatso Motlogelwa scored the only goal of the game as Banyana Banyana kicked off their COSAFA Women’s Championship with a 1-0 win over Namibia at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Tuesday.

With five minutes left to play in the Eastern Cape city, Isabella Ludwig teed up Motlogelwa, who made no mistake with the shot, and put the ball in the back of the Namibian net.

With Banyana set to embark on a European tour where they will play friendlies against Denmark and England, the team for the COSAFA Women’s Championship has been made up with younger players.

COSAFA Banyana secure win in tournament opener@SasolinSport @Shield_ZA @Banyana_Banyanahttps://t.co/SbF2AShlQD

— SAFA.net (@SAFA_net) October 22, 2024

And, their inexperience showed throughout the encounter as they were unable to put their much-lower ranked rivals away.

Banyana goalkeeper Jessica Williams had to be alert in the early stages as Namibia looked dangerous, while Kesha Hendricks spurned a chance to put South Africa ahead in the 11th minute.

Eventual match-winner Motlogelwa herself missed a glorious opportunity early on.

After the break, the South Africans were clearly the much better side in the encounter, but like in the first 45 minutes, they just could not find the back of the net.

The deadlock was eventually broken in the 85th minute when Ludwig found Motlogelwa, who scored to hand the hosts a 1-0 win.

South Africa’s next match in the competition will be against Eswatini on Friday afternoon.

And so it ends in Gqeberha in the @COSAFAMEDIA Women's Championship pic.twitter.com/BeBkFnNiCZ

— SAFA.net (@SAFA_net) October 22, 2024