Ellis upbeat despite Kgatlana blow and Covid

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has not let a few mishaps in the camp dampen their spirits ahead of tonight’s Africa Women Cup of Nations (Wafcon) quarterfinal clash against a less-fancied Tunisia side at Stade Prince Moulay Al Hassan in Rabat (10pm SA time).

Going into tonight’s crunch fixture against the Eagles of Carthage, Banyana have had set backs, such as having a few players testing positive for Covid-19 and the withdrawal of star Thembi Kgatlana due to a ruptured Achilles tendon. Kgatlana has since been sent back to SA to undergo surgery, having suffered the injury in the last pool stages game against Botswana last Sunday.

On Tuesday, Banyana team doctors confirmed a few players, without mentioning  their names, had contracted Covid-19. Ellis is still positive that these difficulties won’t affect the match against Tunisia, emphasising their objectives were still achievable. 

“The mood is good, spirits are high. The players are looking forward to the game against Tunisia. The players are friends with Thembi of course because Thembi has been in the team for a very long time, but they’ve responded very well. We know why we’re here... losing Thembi was a huge blow but we lost Gabby [Gabriela Salgado] before the tournament and people stepped up,” said Ellis.

“The Covid situation again, people will step up because this is an opportunity for them. Other countries have also lost players. Nigeria lost Asisat Oshoala [to injury] and Botswana lost a player as well. We will soldier on and make sure we achieve our objectives. Our first aim is to qualify for the World Cup and beating Tunisia gives that World Cup ticket, so we're going all out.”

Tunisia only qualified for the last eight, alongside Botswana, as the two best third placed finishers across the three groups. The North Africans managed just three points, via beating Togo 4-1 in their pool opener. They then lost their other Group B games to eventual group winners Zambia and runners-up Senegal.