“We are preparing for Wafcon — sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t. We are preparing for something bigger. I thought the players played according to the game plan and they were magnificent and the whole of South Africa can be proud of them.”
An area that impressed Ellis was her players stood their ground against a physical side.
“We withstood the physical battle, we gave as good as they gave, we stood up and our players were counted today. In the physical battle, we didn’t hold back but at times we were not finding the right ball and making the right decisions in the final third.
“It is something we need to work on, but we had one day to prepare for the Denmark game and one day to prepare for England game.
“No one goes out on the pitch to lose. I think the 5-0 result against Denmark is not what we planned but sometimes it happens when things don’t go your way on the field.
“A lot of those that didn’t go our way against Denmark, we got them right today — things like cutting out crosses, forcing them into errors and creating better chances.
“But this job is not finished yet because we still have a lot to do to improve this team.”
Banyana ‘magnificent’ in improved showing against England: Desiree Ellis
Sports reporter
Image: Reuters/Molly Darlington
Though they were on the receiving end of another international friendly defeat, Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis was satisfied with the improved performance by her players as they largely gave as good as they got against England on Tuesday night.
Banyana started their European tour with a 5-0 thrashing at the hands of Denmark in Allborg last week but produced a significantly improved showing in the 2-1 loss to a formidable England in front of a packed, 30,000-seat Coventry Building Society Arena.
South Africa went down 2-0 down inside 20 minutes through goals from Leah Williamson in the 12th minute and Grace Clinton in the 23rd. Banyana fought back into in the game, especially as they dominated a second half where the excellent Thembi Kgatlana pulled one back in the 55th.
Hildah Magaia in the first half and Kgatlana in the second at times ran England ragged. . The Lonesses are the 2022 Euro 2022 champions and last year's losing World Cup finalists against Spain.
“There were a lot of things we didn’t do right against Denmark, who play similar type of football to England, by overloading on the side and switching play due to their aerial ability,” Ellis said.
“The first few minutes [against England] we gave set pieces away and they scored from one of those. For the second goal, we always speak of winning the second and the third ball and we didn’t do that.
“But we rectified those things by bringing in players who we thought would make the difference. We had really good chances in the first half and also after the break and if you look at it, we also had chances from open play.
“We are always looking for improved performances in all areas and today we had that improved performance. Defensively we were well organised, players put their bodies on the line, we had good chances and had we taken those we might be talking a different story, but those are areas we still need to work on.”
The friendly pitted the African and European champions against each other. Ellis said South Africa would have liked to have won but the important thing in the matches on the European tour was preparation towards Banyana's defence of their title ate next year's Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon).
“We are preparing for Wafcon — sometimes it goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t. We are preparing for something bigger. I thought the players played according to the game plan and they were magnificent and the whole of South Africa can be proud of them.”
An area that impressed Ellis was her players stood their ground against a physical side.
“We withstood the physical battle, we gave as good as they gave, we stood up and our players were counted today. In the physical battle, we didn’t hold back but at times we were not finding the right ball and making the right decisions in the final third.
“It is something we need to work on, but we had one day to prepare for the Denmark game and one day to prepare for England game.
“No one goes out on the pitch to lose. I think the 5-0 result against Denmark is not what we planned but sometimes it happens when things don’t go your way on the field.
“A lot of those that didn’t go our way against Denmark, we got them right today — things like cutting out crosses, forcing them into errors and creating better chances.
“But this job is not finished yet because we still have a lot to do to improve this team.”
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