Banyana must beat DRC

BANYANA Banyana must beat limping Democratic Republic of Congo in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, tomorrow to book themselves a place in the semifinals of the eighth African Women's Championship finals.

South Africa got their campaign back on track following a 1-0 win over Senegal in the capital Malabo on Wednesday, with striker Andile Mgcoyi scoring the only goal of a match where Joseph Mkhonza's charges squandered dozens of scoring opportunities.

The Congolese are still trying to recover after Equatorial Guinea offered them a free soccer lesson, winning their Group A clash 6-0. Equatorial Guinea top the group with six points, with South Africa and DRC on three points each. Senegal are bottom of the group without a point.

"It will be suicidal for us to underestimate the Democratic Republic of Congo based on the drubbing they received from the hosts," warned Mkhonza yesterday. "They have a bunch of great players. We need to prepare thoroughly for the match. The main concern for me is our finishing, but that is something that the technical staff are working on. We should have scored a minimum of five goals against Senegal. I'm hoping that we will be sharper on Saturday."

Striker Portia Modise, who played in her 100th game on Wednesday to become the most-capped Banyana player, is also hopeful that the Congolese will fall again.

"We have made it clear that we want to be number one in Africa. The only way for us to achieve that is to win this tournament. So we won't allow the DR Congo to stand in our way."

Equatorial Guinea, who have already qualified for the semifinals, will play Senegal in the other Group A match.