Banyana Banyana want to at least come back from the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) with the bronze medal in honour of injured teammate Gabriela Salgado.
Salgado suffered a broken leg as the defending champions relinquished their crown to nine-time champions Nigeria with a 2-1 semifinal defeat in Casablanca, Morocco on Tuesday.
Banyana coach Desiree Ellis said they will dedicate Friday's third-place playoff game to Salgado and play for the bronze when they meet Ghana, losers on penalties in their semifinal against Morocco, at Casablanca's Stade Larbi Zaouli on Friday (9pm).
The final between the hosts and Super Falcons is at Stade Olympique de Rabat on Saturday (10pm).
Salgado was successfully operated on at Mohammed VI University Hospital in Casablanca, but is likely to spend six months on the sidelines.
Banyana coach Desiree Ellis said she had to play a different role for distraught Banyana players — like midfielder Linda Motlhalo — when they could not keep hold of their emotions after Salgado's horror injury on Tuesday.
“I was a mother, and I was just trying to say to her, 'Stay calm, just do that for Gabi'. That was the talk: 'Do that for Gabi and make sure you get over the line for Gabi', because that's what it was all about at that moment.
“It was very difficult to keep them calm because a lot of them broke down. Going back onto the field I think some were still crying and I think that's really what got to them.”
Saslgado's injury came late in the semifinal with the scores at 1-1 and minutes later Banyana conceded a fluke-ish goal when Michelle Azolie's speculative cross evaded Nigeria's attackers and Banyana's defenders and goalkeeper Andile Dlamini for the 94th-minute decider.
Ellis accepted South Africa had failed to defend their trophy but said she is hoping her players will have recovered enough to focus and win Friday's match against Ghana.
“Look there's nothing we can do. There's two days — a recovery day and two days. Again, when we huddled after the game we said if we didn't have a reason [to win on Friday], now have a reason to play for Gabi.
“That's what it [the third-place game] is all about, to make sure she goes off with a medal and to make sure Jermaine Seoposenwe [who retires from international football after Wafcon] also goes off well. That's how important it is.”
Banyana have an advantage in that they have already defeated Ghana 2-0 in this tournament in their round-robin stage opener, where Motlhalo and Seoposenwe provided the goals to set up Banyana topping Group C.
Ghana also progressed to the last 8 as they finished second after their 4-1 victory over Tanzania in their final group match.
The Black Queens improve as the tournament progressed and beat Algeria on penalties in the quarterfinals to set up their semifinal against Morocco, who they pushed all the way with a 1-1 draw in 120 minutes before being defeated by spot-kicks.
So the Black Queens Banyana face on Feriday night should be a notably stronger combination from the side they faced in the opening game in Oujda.
But Banyana have an advantage in that they didn't have to travel after their defeat against Nigeria, but Ghana had to move from Rabat to Casablanca.
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