MBANE AND DLAMINI SET FOR CAREER MILESTONES IN BANYANA COLOURS
Sasol Banyana Banyana defenders Bambanani Mbane and Karabo Dhlamini are set for major career milestones when they face Algeria in the upcoming two international friendly matches in Durban.
Mbane will be making her 100th appearance for the country, while Dhlamini will clock up half a century of caps. South Africa will take on the North Africans on Tuesday, 14 April at the Princess Magogo Stadium, followed by the second clash three days later on Friday, 17 April at the King Zwelithini Stadium.
Both games kick off at 3 pm.
Known to her peers as Juice, Mbane joins an esteemed group of Sasol Banyana Banyana and becomes the 12th player to reach this milestone:
- Janine van Wyk (retired): 185 caps
- Noko Matlou (retired): 174
- Nompumelelo Nyandeni (retired): 150
- Refiloe Jane: 146
- Nothando Vilakazi: 137
- Portia Modise (retired): 124
- Mamello Makhabane: 121
- Lebohang Ramalepe: 118
- Jermaine Seoposenwe (retired): 112
- Amanda Dlamini (retired): 105
- Leandra Smeda: 100
The Eastern Cape-born Mbane made her national team debut as a substitute in 2016 in the second leg of the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Botswana at the Makhulong Stadium in Tembisa. South Africa won the game 3-0.
Three years later (19 January 2019), Dhlamini would don her first South African Senior Women’s National team jersey at the Cape Town Stadium in a 2-1 loss to the Netherlands – she was only 17.
Since then, both have never looked back.
“Bambanani has been immense for the team. There’s a period where she went through injuries and would probably have reached the milestone sooner, but she’s been ever-present in our defence, someone you can rely on, and we saw that at the WAFCON. With Karabo, people thought I was mad when I took her to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup straight from the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup as a 17 year old turning 18 but where would she be now if we did not do that because we needed to also make sure that it wasn’t just about that World Cup but was about getting someone to go forward,” said Sasol Banyana Banyana Head Coach, Dr Desiree Ellis.
“So, it’s well deserved for both of them because of the efforts that they’ve put in, and they’ve never really disappointed. They have been players that you can count on, but also for the younger players to look up to because they’ve been ultimate professionals.”
Team captain and fellow centurion, Refiloe Jane, has also showered her teammates with praise.
“For Bambanani, who is going to reach her 100th cap, and Karabo, who is going into her 50th, it shows the consistency, the discipline, the hard work that they’ve been putting behind the scenes within the team. And it’s a motivation for other players as well: if one player can reach such a century, it means it’s possible, so one needs to go and get guidelines and understand what motivated them, what worked for them, so they can reach where they are. We are really happy for them, we can’t wait to celebrate it with them and we’re looking forward to it,” said Jane.
Both Mbane and Dlamini were part of the gold-winning Sasol Banyana Banyana squad at the 2022 CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco. They also featured in the two FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments in France (2019) and Australia and New Zealand (2023).
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