Linda Moreotsene

Linda Moreotsene

With Banyana Banyana out of Beijing 2008 after bombing out against Ghana in Accra on Sunday, it is back to the drawing board for coach Augustine Makalakalane.

The Black Queens scored two goals to South Africa's solitary strike to consolidate their place at the top of the group, and to further open the gap between themselves and Nigeria in second place.

Makalakalane reckons that his team's biggest problem was that they lacked a winning mentality.

"As usual, we created numerous chances but failed to convert them, except for Veronica Phewa, who tried her luck in the first half," Makalakalane said.

"Ghana, on the other hand, proved they can score goals - and at any point during a game.

"Their first win against us was via a last-minute goal, and the same thing happened on Sunday.

"As a coach, I have several well-known challenges which have contributed to the kind of players I have - lack of resources, no league and so on.

"But a team like Nigeria, for example, believe they can win, and play to win," said Makalakalane.

Makalakalane is not yet ready to throw in the towel, or to leave the job of instilling a winning mentality in the team to another coach.

"I inherited a dismal team and have managed to get them back to position three on the continent. I therefore think we have done a good job so far," he said.

Banyana Banyana host Nigeria in February, a match that will have no bearing on the final outcome. After beating Nigeria, Ghana have nine points and Nigeria have three.