Banyana Banyana have arrived in Port Elizabeth to start the defence of their Cosafa Cup title they won in the same province about a year ago.

Head coach Desiree Ellis and the 20 players she named for the tournament started training at the Westbourne Oval yesterday.

The 2019 Cosafa Women's Championship kicks off tomorrow and ends on August 11.

SA will take on Comoros in their opening match at Wolfson Stadium tomorrow (3.30pm).

Banyana, who are in Group A, will also face Malawi on Friday and Madagascar on Monday, at the same venue.

Of the 20 players announced by Ellis for the tournament, six of them were not at the 2019 Fifa Women's World Cup in France.

Three of them are uncapped - Priscilla Pesa (Golden Ladies), Shange Sthembile (Durban Ladies) and Noxolo Cesane (University of Western Cape).

The other trio has been in the national team before - Hilda Magaia (TUT-PTA), Robyn Moodaly (JVW FC) and Ongeziwe Dlangisa (Durban University of Technology).

Zambia, Namibia, Mauritius and Botswana are in Group B, while Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Angola and eSwatini are in Group C.

Only the top team in each pool will advance to the semifinals, along with the best second-place finisher. - Safa.net