Maud Khumalo eager to reclaim gold in the COSAFA Women’s Championship

Two years ago, they finished second to Zambia before failing to get out of the group in last year’s edition at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville.

South Africa has won this competition a record seven times.

Speaking exclusively to SABC Sport ahead of their opening match against Namibia at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha on Tuesday, Khumalo says being hosts comes with a lot of pressure but the players know what is at stake.

"Being hosts is pressure on its own and remember when you look at the history of Banyana Banyana with regards to the Cosafa tournament, we last won it three years back and also in your home soil, you need to give supporters something to talk about,” Khumalo said.

“Also, something that they wanna see is results because you've got the advantage of playing at home. So, the players I did explain to them that it's gonna be pressure and then the first game is gonna give us a direction whether we are going forward or we're still gonna work hard to go forward.

"So, for us playing with Namibia, it's gonna make the players aware that we're really in the tournament and then the first game is more like the final. So that we have an upper hand in the tournament."

READ: Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies and UWC players might miss Banyana friendly match

Khumalo says they have studied Namibia and know what to expect.

"We have just analysed the game, they are very physical and they hard running but we have found out their weaknesses, which is something that we're gonna capitilise on because they are looking solely or depending on their striker,” she added.

“But I think now when we're looking at the final squad, Coleman [Zenatha] is not there. So, you never know who they are gonna bring. We also played with them with the under20s when we were preparing last year when we played the World Cup qualifiers. “When we analyse them, they don't have tactical structure, they just kick the ball forward. So with us it's just to minimise the mistakes and then also just keep position and be patient on the ball and then we just open the field wide and capitalise on that."