15 February 2023 – SASOL Banyana Banyana have arrived safely in Antalya, Turkey, and immediately got down to business.
It was a quiet trip from Johannesburg, South Africa, to Antalya for the traveling contingent of coach Desiree Ellis, members of her technical team and 16 local-based players. The seven overseas-based players that were selected by Ellis to this camp will join the rest of the squad later on Wednesday.
“We arrived safely in the country and we were warmly welcomed by the Turkish people. We arrived at the hotel with people greeting us, it was really fantastic and welcoming. We had an activation session earlier on after the long travel,” Ellis said.
The South African senior women’s team will open their Turkish Women’s Cup account when they face Uzbekistan on Saturday.
World football governing body FIFA gave the greenlight to the tournament in a letter sent to all the participants on 10 February 2023. The participating teams are: Bulgaria, Estonia, Kosovo, Hong Kong, Jordan, North Macedonia, Slovenia, South Africa, Uzbekistan and Zambia.