Banyana beat Eswatini, but bow out of Cosafa champs

SA pay price for shock defeat to Malawi

Sazi Hadebe Sports reporter
South Africa's Ntombifikile Ndlovu is challenged by Welile Ndwandwe of Eswatini in their 2023 Cosafa Women's Championship match at Dobsonville Stadium on Tuesday.
South Africa's Ntombifikile Ndlovu is challenged by Welile Ndwandwe of Eswatini in their 2023 Cosafa Women's Championship match at Dobsonville Stadium on Tuesday.
Image: Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images

A hat-trick by striker Thubelihle Shamase gave Banyana Banyana a 3-0 victory over eSwatini in their Cosafa Cup Group A match played at the Dobsonville Stadium yesterday.

The result, however, has no impact for a makeshift Banyana team and eSwatini as they both started the match already out of the running for the semifinals after not starting well in the tournament.

Banyana suffered a 4-3 loss against Malawi in their first match last Wednesday before beating Madagascar 3-1 in their second on Saturday.

"We wanted more goals but I like the effort by my teammates. I enjoyed the tournament and it's a good experience for us young players," player-of-the-match Shamase said after the match.

Banyana coach Desiree Ellis said losing the first game against semifinalists Malawi was their setback but was happy to discover a few Banyana players like Shamase, who have potential to progress to the senior South African team.