Banyana Banyana breathed some life into their CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign after fighting from two goals down back to secure a 2-2 draw against Ivory Coast in a dramatic Group B encounter on Friday.
Despite showing resilience to recover from a two-goal deficit, the result leaves Desiree Ellis’ side facing a must-win final group match against Burkina Faso as they continue their battle to reach the knockout stages.
South Africa’s qualification hopes are no longer entirely in their own hands.
Banyana will need victory against Burkina Faso and will also be keeping a close eye on the later fixture between Tanzania and Burkina Faso, with the outcome of that match set to play a crucial role in determining their fate.
Banyana were once again punished by a familiar weakness as Ivory Coast exposed them on the counter-attack during a difficult first half.
Having survived similar moments against Tanzania in their opening fixture, Ellis’ side failed to heed the warning as the pace of the Lady Elephants caused problems throughout the opening 45 minutes.
Grace Sery opened the scoring in the 18th minute after latching onto a perfectly weighted through ball from Nsira Ouedraogo before calmly slotting past Kaylin Swart to hand Ivory Coast the advantage.
The duo combined again before the break, with Ouedraogo once more unlocking the South African defence with a lofted pass over the top.
Sery timed her run perfectly, leaving Swart stranded off her line before finishing clinically to double both her tally and Ivory Coast’s lead.
Banyana went into the interval needing a response, and they found it through their star player Thembi Kgatlana.
The forward produced a moment of individual brilliance after the restart, unleashing a stunning strike to pull South Africa back into the contest and reduce the deficit to 2-1.
The goal sparked renewed belief in Ellis’ side, who pushed forward in search of an equaliser and began to put Ivory Coast under sustained pressure.
Their persistence was eventually rewarded deep into the closing stages when second-half substitute Hildah Magaia found the back of the net to complete the comeback and rescue a valuable point.
However, the draw leaves Banyana with plenty of work still to do. The former African champions now have to defeat Burkina Faso in their final group match and rely on other results to secure progression to the knockout stages.
After twice falling behind, the fight shown in Morocco may have kept their tournament alive — but the margin for error has disappeared.
