South Africa women’s national team coach Desiree Ellis has identified the areas that need to be worked on in the team ahead of the 2025 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON).
Banyana Banyana played two international friendly matches against Denmark and England, recording 5-0 and 2-1 defeats, respectively.
Following Tuesday’s 2-1 loss to England in Coventry, Ellis noted that the players improved a lot compared to the heavy defeat to Denmark.
“There were a lot of things that we didn’t do right against Denmark, because they played similarly with overloading on the sides and switching off play and, obviously, the aerial ability,” Ellis said.
“We had two really good chances in the first half, but we also had chances in the second half. And if you look at it, we had a couple of chances from open play, but we’re very happy.”
Mistake will be rectified- Ellis
Ellis stated that the technical bench now has homework to rectify the lapses in attack and at the back ahead of the WAFCON.
“We had good chances, really, and if we take those chances, we might be talking about something different, but that is an area that we still need to work on. We’re preparing for WAFCON. So sometimes it goes your way, sometimes it doesn’t go your way because there’s something bigger that we’re preparing for,” she observed.
“But this job is not finished yet because we still have a lot of work to do. This needs to be not perfected, but it needs to be better, and it needs to improve all the time. And we said we’re looking for improved performances. And today, it’s not just the score line, but today was definitely an improved performance in all areas.”
During the next FIFA window, South Africa will travel to Jamaica to play two international friendly matches against the Reggae Girls on 29 November and 2 December 2024.
Banyana Banyana are the defending champions of the Women’s Africa Cup after beating Morocco to clinch their first title in 2022.
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