Desiree Ellis, South Africa's head coach, says the Banyana Banyana are firmly focused on winning their maiden title at the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations in Morocco.

The biennial competition will kick off this weekend.

The Banyana Banyana have been runners-up five times in the competition.

Three of those defeats were against the nine-time champions, the Super Falcons of Nigeria.

Ellis’ charges are pitted in Group C with the Super Falcons, debutants, Botswana and Burundi.

The South Africans will face the Super Falcons in their first game in Rabat next week on Monday.

The tactician, whose side has won two of their last three meetings against Nigeria, is targeting a good start.

“We have to make sure we get a positive result from the first match because that will set the tone for the rest of the tournament,” Ellis told Times Live.

It would also be nave of us to go to the tournament and not set a goal of winning it. I think we will be no different from any other country in wanting to win it.

“We’ve been runners-up five times, and 2018 was really the closest." The time is now that we really step up and make sure we get that gold medal, but we must not underestimate any teams in our group. "