Captain Jane explains why Banyana failed to bring home a Wafcon medal

TimesLIVE

29-07-2025

Banyana Banyana captain Refiloe Jane has made an honest admission about their Women's Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) campaign in Morocco, where they failed to successfully defend their title.
Banyana finished fourth after losing to Ghana in the third-place playoff match on Friday on penalties. They went to the tournament as defending champions, but had a disappointing tournament.
Jane said they let the nation down.
'We are disappointed to be going home empty-handed. Throughout the tournament, it wasn't easy for the players and there were a lot of challenges on and off the pitch,' she said.
'We tried to put in a great performance, we tried to do our level best and we tried to retain the trophy as the main objective. But going home, there's a lot of work to be done and we are hoping in the next Wafcon we can do well, starting with the qualifiers.'
No cheers. No welcome. Just cameras and questions.
Banyana deserved more than silence.
Let's not only show up when there's a trophy. #RespectBanyana #WeSeeYou #QueensDeserveBetter pic.twitter.com/6hoKienL6b
— Sports Daily (@SportsDailyZA) July 28, 2025
Among key factors that seemed to stand against Banyana in defence of their title were the less than ideal preparations, as yet another pay dispute with the South African Football Association before a major tournament resulted in a two-day pre-Wafcon strike in Morocco. The players reportedly returned to training out of a sense of duty, not because they felt the matter was resolved to their satisfaction.
The absence of star attacker Thembi Kgatlane after her withdrawal from the tournament was another huge disadvantage.
Jane feels the team — hugely experienced, but with some ageing campaigners and question marks over the depth of emerging talent — is in a transition phase. She said Banyana have many plus factors to take from their Wafcon campaign as they start to prepare for next year's edition, also in Morocco, where they hope to do better.
'Given the situation in camp, given the players we had and a lot of transition that was taking place in the team, we are hoping a lot of positives can be taken from the tournament and build on that.
[WATCH] Banyana Banyana have returned home from Morocco following a disappointing stint at the Women's Africa Cup of Nations. pic.twitter.com/sFvn3ESvZg
— SABC News (@SABCNews) July 28, 2025
'It's disappointing to sum up the tournament going home without a medal.'
Midfielder Amogelang Motau has called for patience and echoed Jane's sentiments that Banyana are in a transition period.
'I will go back to the fact that it's a transition. You need time for different combinations so we can establish the chemistry of players who were able to qualify for the World Cup,' Motau said.
'These are the players who have been playing together for more than six years. We are talking about Fifi [Jane] and Linda [Motlhalo]. When I came into the midfield, I almost felt like I was lost because the two of them had so much chemistry, but with time I'm also getting there.
'I think with the group of players who are here, we have shown they have potential and are willing to get there. For me it's about playing more games together and attending more camps together, and I think things will fall into place. We need to be patient.'