Banyana hope for change of Awcon luck

Banyana Banyana will look to win their first Africa Women’s Cup of Nations after they qualified for the showpiece that will be held in Morocco in July by defeating Algeria 3-1 on aggregate. 

This will be SA's 12th time qualifying for the Awcon and they will be striving to win their maiden title after they have fallen short previously, losing on five occasions in the final.

“A lot of our players have been in the position before,” said head coach Desiree Ellis. 

“A lot of our players want to make their mark at the tournament and also the new players want to make their mark, so they know the magnitude of it.” 

In the first leg of the crucial qualifier played at home in Johannesburg, Banyana beat Algeria 2-0, thanks to goals from Hildah Magaia and Thembi Kgatlana. SA then ground out a 1-1 draw in the return leg in Algiers on Wednesday. 

Algeria took the lead courtesy of Sylia Koui on the brink of halftime. There was a sense of anxiety as the Dessert Foxes kept probing for their second goal. Their urgency in the second half became their downfall when Sofia Guellati was judged to have handled the ball inside the box. That led to Banyana being awarded a penalty and winger Linda Motlhalo slotted it home.

Ellis was pleased with how her team managed the game situation when they were placed under pressure, and were eventually able to coolly qualify for the July 2-23 event in North Africa. 

“This team has a lot of courage and determination. They have been in this position before and we just needed to keep on playing. We felt that they were not a threat except for the long balls that they kept playing and the set pieces they had.

“We always knew that we would get another chance and once the penalty went in, we were in control of the game and played our game,” said Ellis.