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Johannesburg - Vera Pauw has revealed on Thursday that the South African Football Association (SAFA) are yet to secure Banyana Banyana’s tour to west Africa at the end of the month.
Pauw and her team are currently on a four-day training camp in Johannesburg and were due to travel into the continent for three friendly games against Cameroon, Ivory Coast and Equatorial Guinea.
“It’s a shame we don’t know yet because I’m a coach who likes to plan ahead,” Pauw said at a training session in Bedfordview, east of Johannesburg.
“The plans were made very quickly when I came in, but of course, we are depending on other countries.
“Equatorial Guinea, I just found out, I got a text message, that they don’t have a team. It’s very disappointing.”
The friendly encounters, it was hoped, would help Pauw gauge Banyana’s readiness for the CAF African Women’s Championships (AWC) to be held in Namibia from October 11 to 25 this year.
The tournament is used as qualification for the 2015 Fifa Women's World Cup, with the top three teams from the AWC qualifying for the finals in Canada.
Pauw, however, made it clear that the team would find alternatives, should the tour not materialize.
“This training camp, we would have had, regardless of the Africa tour. If there is no Africa tour, we will do other things because we need to keep the momentum going.
“We have so much to learn and to get ready for October.”
Pauw, who has been in charge since March, is aiming for a third successive win, having overseen four games since taking over from former head coach Joseph Mkhonza.
The former Dutch international, who earned over 80 caps for the Netherlands, qualified Banyana for the AWC courtesy of a 13-0 thrashing of Comoros last month, a game which resulted in the Comoros pulling out of the return leg in South Africa.
