AWCON
South Africa sweep big at WAFCON 2022 Awards as Banyana are the new Queens of Africa.
Banyana Banyana edged hosts Morocco 2-1 in the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday in Rabat in a highly contested tie that brought out the best of both teams.
At the heart of this success was goalkeeper Andile Dlamini who kept three clean sheets in the six games that Banyana Banyana played at this tournament.
Her efforts were rewarded when she walked away with the Goalkeeper of the Year Award – an award that she dedicated to her family for their enormous support.
“In 2018, I was watching from the bench and I told myself that I want to play next time. As a team, we have worked hard to achieve this and this means so much,” Dlamini said while biting her gold medal.
Her teammate Hilda Magaia whose brace secured the WAFCON title for South Africa was named the Woman of the Match and finished as joint top scorer at the 2022 edition with three goals alongside Moroccan captain Ghizlane Chebbak and Nigeria’s Rasheedat Ajibade.
South Africa, who were named the National Team of the Year, were also named as the Fair Play Team.
“Honestly, it has not yet dawned on us that we are African champions. This feels like a dream to us. I know eventually when we sit down, we shall realize that it is actually true. When we look back at the journey, it is going to be a tough one,” Refiloe Jane, South Africa’s captain revealed with deep emotion.
“When I lifted the trophy, there was so much going through my mind. This is big for South Africa, for Women’s Football. I cannot wait to get back home. They have been supporting us since day one. Today, we saw a united South Africa. It is something that we had hoped for. We wanted to bring hope and bring back smiles to South Africans. We are grateful for the support that they have shown to us.”
Meanwhile, Chebbak whose performance has consistently wowed everyone during the tournament was named as the Player of the Tournament.
Democratic Republic of Congo side, TP Mazembe are officially the champions of the CAF Women’s Champions League Morocco 2024.
A highly tactical and hard fought 1-0 victory in the final played in El Jadida’s Stade Ben Ahmed El Abdi against former champions and hosts, AS FAR saw the DR Congo side crowned the new champions of Africa for the first time – wiping away tears of their 2022 group stage exit.
With the crowd backing the hosts, Mazembe showed great resilience and courage in taking the match to the former champions who remain in search for what has been an elusive second title for them.
The deciding goal of the fourth edition of the tournament came courtesy of a converted spot kick by Marlene Kasaj in the opening 10 minutes, which Mazembe protected throughout the match to seal the historic victory.
Despite the early concession, AS FAR kept believing and surged forward in search of the leveller, but a resolute Mazembe defense kept the clean sheet throughout the opening half.
Coming back from the break, it was surprisingly Mazembe who looked more dangerous as they came out strong in an attempt to kill off the game.
The hosts eventually found their rhythm but again were met by a disciplined Mazembe defense, who kept the former champions at bay to secure Africa’s most sought-after women’s club football crown.
In addition to the coveted CAF Women’s Champions League trophy, TP Mazembe also take home $600 000 in prize money, while runners-up AS FAR take home $400 000.
-CAF
BY JOSEPH ODOEKWU
The National Chairman of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club (NFSC) Samuel Ikpea has tipped the Super Falcons of Nigeria to claim their 10th African Women’s Cup of Nations title in Morocco when they begin their campaign next year.
Ikpea’ remarks came after the Friday night draw that put Algeria, Tunisia and Botswana in the same group with the Super Falcons.
“Our girls are going to play in a group with two North African countries (Tunisia and Algeria). “It is going to be interesting, and I am optimistic that our girls will scale from our group”.
Nigeria will tackle two North African teams – Tunisia and Algeria – as well as Botswana, in Group B of the 13th Women Africa Cup of Nations finals taking place in Morocco next summer.
The Falcons will surely relish another meeting with Algeria’s Green Ladies, whom they defeated 2-0 and 4-1 respectively in two friendly matches in Nigeria last month.
Botswana eliminated Gabon in the qualifying series and Tunisia were the quarter-finalists at the last edition also hosted by Morocco.
At the draw conducted on Friday evening at the Technical Centre of the Mohamed VI Football Complex in Sale, outside Rabat, host nation Morocco, earlier slotted into Group A, learnt they will have to cope with Zambia, Senegal and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Cup holders South Africa are in Group C and will square up to Ghana, Mali and Tanzania in the three-week, 12-nation final tournament taking place 5th – 26th July 2025.
Hosts Morocco finished as runners-up in the last edition in July 2022, with Zambia taking the bronze after a 1-0 defeat of Nigeria in the third-place match.
GROUP A: Morocco, Zambia, Senegal, DR Congo
GROUP B: Nigeria, Tunisia, Algeria, Botswana
GROUP C: South Africa, Ghana, Mali, Tanzania
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