Brazil intent on improving against Banyana

Brazil defender Kathellen de Sousa believes playing against the champions of Africa will prove solid preparation for next year's FIFA World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.

The ninth-ranked side according to the Women's World Rankings are in South Africa for two friendly internationals - the first saw Banyana Banyana handed a 3-0 defeat at Orlando Stadium on Friday, with the second set for Moses Mabhida Stadium on Monday.

Kathellen, who last month signed for Real Madrid Femenino, believes the quality and physicality of the South Africans will help them raise their game, while exposure to a new environment on the African continent also helps.

"I feel good. South Africa are the champions of here [Africa] so it's good for us to face them. We also know their quality and physicality, so we are trying to get this to improve our team too," Kathellen told SABC Sport.

"The first game was very fun to play, it was our first game after Copa America so it was very nice to play here [in South Africa] and I think Africa is just an amazing place."

Brazil won the 2022 Copa America Femenina title without conceding a single goal while scoring 20 through the eight matches in Colombia in July.

The 26-year-old, though refusing to give 'the juice', says they have small details to improve on and scoring more goals is among those.

"We think we... You're not going to get the juice yet but, we made a lot of little mistakes - the details, so we are looking forward to fixing those details to have a good performance," she added, before calling on Durban supporters to come out in their numbers.

"I guess in women's soccer, we know how it's [inconsistent], we never know which game will have a big or small crowd, so we deal with that well. We always hope, of course, for the fans to come and give us the energy but we also play for the team and ourselves, not just the fans. But the fans are always important, so come out to watch us!"

By Chad Klate