Bafana Bafana have appeared in the Fifa World Cup on three occasions, in 1998, 2002 and 2010, and the national men's team have not made it past the first round.
Ellis described Banyana as “warriors”, saying they never give up fighting.
“There was a time on the line where we had five coaches giving directions, including the captain [Refiloe Jane, on the bench carrying a niggling injury] — it was that tough,” the coach said.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game but we knew what we were capable of. We trained the whole few days for going behind, because we have not had to come from behind [at the World Cup].
“But these girls were just fricking amazing. No-one gave us a chance but we knew what we were capable of and fought like warriors.”
Before the match, Ellis said the game would be like a final for the team.
“We know it’s going to be a difficult game. They are going to have to protect what they have and we have to come for the three points. It is do or die, nothing less than victory. We have really worked hard on a lot in the past few days, how we can hurt them. We can’t share that plan but we have worked on something we feel can get us results,” said Ellis.
“We also review. We have a post-match session after every match on what we could have done better and we work on that a lot in training. Like I said, you can work on it at training and sometimes it is organisational that does not work on the day, in moments where we are not organised. But we have to constantly work on that all the time to allow them to do better.”
POLL | Should Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis be co-opted to coach Bafana Bafana?
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Image: Lars Baron/Getty Images
Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis's coaching skills have been thrust into the spotlight after the team's strong comeback game against Italy on Wednesday.
Banyana made history by reaching the 2023 Women's World Cup last 16 at New Zealand's Wellington Regional Stadium.
They beat Italy 3-2 in the group game.
Bafana Bafana have appeared in the Fifa World Cup on three occasions, in 1998, 2002 and 2010, and the national men's team have not made it past the first round.
Ellis described Banyana as “warriors”, saying they never give up fighting.
“There was a time on the line where we had five coaches giving directions, including the captain [Refiloe Jane, on the bench carrying a niggling injury] — it was that tough,” the coach said.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game but we knew what we were capable of. We trained the whole few days for going behind, because we have not had to come from behind [at the World Cup].
“But these girls were just fricking amazing. No-one gave us a chance but we knew what we were capable of and fought like warriors.”
Before the match, Ellis said the game would be like a final for the team.
“We know it’s going to be a difficult game. They are going to have to protect what they have and we have to come for the three points. It is do or die, nothing less than victory. We have really worked hard on a lot in the past few days, how we can hurt them. We can’t share that plan but we have worked on something we feel can get us results,” said Ellis.
“We also review. We have a post-match session after every match on what we could have done better and we work on that a lot in training. Like I said, you can work on it at training and sometimes it is organisational that does not work on the day, in moments where we are not organised. But we have to constantly work on that all the time to allow them to do better.”
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