Banyana Banyana head into Fifa Women’s World Cup soccer week riding the crest of a wave after their 2-0 victory over Costa Rica in their preparation match and coach Desiree Ellis is positive ahead of their opener against Sweden on Sunday (7am SA time).
Ellis said their match against Costa Rica gave them a clear indication of what to expect when they began their group G campaign.
The match was Banyana’s last warm-up friendly ahead of their meeting with third-ranked Sweden.
Thembi Kgatlana scored the opening goal in the first half and Hildah Magaia netted the second after the break to seal the victory.
“We always go into a game to win, but also to look at other areas. We look at performance, how we play, what areas we need to improve on,” Ellis said after the match.
“The win gives you a lot of confidence and the way we played also gives us a lot of confidence.
“We had to break them down, but I felt at times, we moved the ball around slowly.
“The goal we scored was the movement and the good combination play, but we did too little of that.
“Very happy with the results. As the coach, I’m always looking for improvement, but today I thought we prepared very well.”
Ellis was also pleased with Kgatlana after scoring in her first match since returning from the injury that kept her out for more than a year.
“In a performance today, Thembi having been out for so long, it is as if she never left and getting a goal will give her and the team a lot of confidence,” she said.
“She was instrumental in a lot of our moves and I’m very happy to give her some minutes and the goal will give her some confidence.
“We are happy with the performance and now we can concentrate fully on Sweden.”
Kgatlana was also happy to have found the back of the net.
“It was a mission to score coming back after a year. It felt great to have played more than 70 minutes,” Kgatlana said.
“As a striker, when I score, that’s something that I’ve been practising when I’ve been with my club Racing.
“It was amazing to see how I connected with my teammates after coming back from my injury.”
SA goalkeeper Andile Dlamini says the team’s development and unity in recent years bodes well for the African champions.
The 30-year-old was a key player in the SA side which lifted their first women’s Africa Cup of Nations title last year.
She said that recent success and feeling of unity had increased the belief within the team that the results from their inaugural World Cup tournament four years ago, in which they lost all three matches, would not be repeated.
“[That’s] the feel that we need to keep with going to the World Cup, because if you have that unity and bond and nothing comes between you, nothing will distract you,” she said in an interview on the Fifa website.
“So we had that. That’s why we won the African Cup of Nations.”
She said SA would need to be clinical and disciplined at the showpiece tournament, adding: “Every chance that we create needs to be in the back of the net.
“We need to play more compact and not lose discipline on the field of play.”
SA also have Argentina and Italy to face in group G.
The ninth women’s World Cup is being hosted by New Zealand and Australia. — Additional reporting by Reuters
Banyana confident as World Cup opener approaches
Win over Costa Rica in warm-up match delivers list of positives for SA women’s team
Journalist
Image: TWITTER/BANYANA BANYANA
Banyana Banyana head into Fifa Women’s World Cup soccer week riding the crest of a wave after their 2-0 victory over Costa Rica in their preparation match and coach Desiree Ellis is positive ahead of their opener against Sweden on Sunday (7am SA time).
Ellis said their match against Costa Rica gave them a clear indication of what to expect when they began their group G campaign.
The match was Banyana’s last warm-up friendly ahead of their meeting with third-ranked Sweden.
Thembi Kgatlana scored the opening goal in the first half and Hildah Magaia netted the second after the break to seal the victory.
“We always go into a game to win, but also to look at other areas. We look at performance, how we play, what areas we need to improve on,” Ellis said after the match.
“The win gives you a lot of confidence and the way we played also gives us a lot of confidence.
“We had to break them down, but I felt at times, we moved the ball around slowly.
“The goal we scored was the movement and the good combination play, but we did too little of that.
“Very happy with the results. As the coach, I’m always looking for improvement, but today I thought we prepared very well.”
Ellis was also pleased with Kgatlana after scoring in her first match since returning from the injury that kept her out for more than a year.
“In a performance today, Thembi having been out for so long, it is as if she never left and getting a goal will give her and the team a lot of confidence,” she said.
“She was instrumental in a lot of our moves and I’m very happy to give her some minutes and the goal will give her some confidence.
“We are happy with the performance and now we can concentrate fully on Sweden.”
Kgatlana was also happy to have found the back of the net.
“It was a mission to score coming back after a year. It felt great to have played more than 70 minutes,” Kgatlana said.
“As a striker, when I score, that’s something that I’ve been practising when I’ve been with my club Racing.
“It was amazing to see how I connected with my teammates after coming back from my injury.”
SA goalkeeper Andile Dlamini says the team’s development and unity in recent years bodes well for the African champions.
The 30-year-old was a key player in the SA side which lifted their first women’s Africa Cup of Nations title last year.
She said that recent success and feeling of unity had increased the belief within the team that the results from their inaugural World Cup tournament four years ago, in which they lost all three matches, would not be repeated.
“[That’s] the feel that we need to keep with going to the World Cup, because if you have that unity and bond and nothing comes between you, nothing will distract you,” she said in an interview on the Fifa website.
“So we had that. That’s why we won the African Cup of Nations.”
She said SA would need to be clinical and disciplined at the showpiece tournament, adding: “Every chance that we create needs to be in the back of the net.
“We need to play more compact and not lose discipline on the field of play.”
SA also have Argentina and Italy to face in group G.
The ninth women’s World Cup is being hosted by New Zealand and Australia. — Additional reporting by Reuters
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