South Africa’s Banyana Banyana will seek to respond after a 5-0 defeat to Japan when the teams meet in the second of two friendlies in Osaka on Tuesday. Kickoff is Tuesday, June 9 at 3:30 p.m. local time (8:30 a.m. CAT) at Yanmar Hanasaka Stadium, and the match is scheduled to air on SABC.
Japan dominated the first meeting, with Kiko Seike scoring twice inside 19 minutes, Momoko Tanikawa making it 3-0 before the half-hour mark and Aoba Fujino adding two more after the interval. The hosts controlled the tempo throughout and the scoreline could have been larger.
Coach Desiree Ellis, quoted by the South African Football Association (SAFA), said defeats offer more lessons than wins and praised Japan for exploiting errors and finishing clinically. Ellis said the side had aimed to be compact in the opening 20 minutes but conceded early, struggled to settle and could not recover in time while under sustained Japanese pressure.
Selection choices from the first game included benching Tigres UANL forward Thembi Kgatlana for the first half, a decision SAFA reported may have been partly influenced by Kgatlana’s previous injury issues and a limited window to experiment before the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco (July 25 – Aug. 16). When Kgatlana entered in the second half, the overall pattern of the match remained unchanged.
As per Flashscore, Banyana Banyana recorded an expected goals (xG) total of 0.33 in the opener and created no big chances. South Africa have lost their last two matches against Japan (2019 and 2026) and drew their other meeting in 2012. Expected lineups published for Tuesday include Andile Dlamini in goal for South Africa and Ayaka Yamashita for Japan, with Kiko Seike and Mina Tanaka among Japan’s attacking options.
