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Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis believes the obstacles that her team need to overcome to gain the upper hand over the leading football nations they have been grouped with in the Women’s World Cup can be overcome.
With the showpiece fast approaching – it is set to take place in France from June 7 to July 7 – Banyana, who are placed 48th in the Fifa World Ranking, will have to score well against Germany (2nd), Spain (12th) and China (15th) in Group B to get to the second round.
This week, Banyana rounded off two friendly matches against countries ranked in the top 10 – Sweden and the Netherlands. The team played a goalless draw against Sweden on Tuesday and lost 2-1 to the Netherlands last Saturday.
The game against the Netherlands marked the inaugural Winnie Madikizela-Mandela Challenge, while the match against Sweden marked the beginning of the Albertina Sisulu Centenary Challenge. Both games were played at Cape Town Stadium and formed part of Banyana Banyana’s preparations for the month-long World Cup.
Passing game
When the team clashed with the Netherlands, Ellis emphasised the importance of good passing.
“Against the Netherlands, you need to put the ball in the ground and play a good passing game,” she said.
“This is one of our strengths, but one of the players in the Netherlands team, Lieke Martens, is a best Fifa women’s player award recipient. They are such a good team that we were 2-0 down in just 20 minutes.”
While Sweden use their physical strength to play like Germany, the Netherlands squad prefer an exciting possession-based style, which is similar to how the Spanish clubs play.
Physically Strong
Ellis, who was crowned the CAF women’s national team coach of the year for 2018 earlier this month, said of Banyana after they took on Sweden on Tuesday night: “Against Sweden, we needed to be physically strong. We did very well, despite the changes we made.”
Like Banyana, the Netherlands and Sweden teams have qualified for the World Cup.
Ellis said the team’s upcoming match against North Korea at the Cyprus Cup next month would be good preparation for their World Cup game against China as the two countries have a similar style of play. The Cyprus Cup runs from February 25 to March 7.
Squad’s depth
Ellis said the depth of the squad was put to the test against Sweden and the Netherlands. Four changes were made in the starting 11 for Banyana’s game against Sweden: goalkeeper Andile Dlamini, defender Noko Matlou, midfielder Koketso Tlailane and striker Rhoda Mulaudzi.
“We did not get the win, but there are positive things we took out of it,” she said.
“We’ve got something going. It makes things difficult for us when selecting the players, but that is what we want.”
She said the team was growing in confidence and that another Fifa international friendly would be played in April.
The team then heads to the US before going to France for the World Cup. Ellis’ side qualified for the global tournament after finishing as runners-up to eventual champions Nigeria in last year’s CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
