Ellis hopes Banyana have drawn lessons from Brazil

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis says the back-to-back losses to Brazil in the friendly matches showed her the team still has a long way to go before next year’s World Cup.

The aggregate score in the two games that were played at the Orlando Stadium and Moses Mabhida Stadium is 9-0. In the last game that took place on Monday, where Banyana lost 6-0, the result brought the country back to earth following the euphoria of winning the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in the winter.

Ellis was brutally honest in her assessment of the team in the two games, calling them out for amateur mistakes. 

“The mistakes that we make, top teams like Brazil pounce on. All around the result wasn’t great but we are better than that. I explained to the players that this is level way up from Wafcon,” said Ellis.

“We still have a lot of work to do. The World Cup is not tomorrow, it’s almost a year from now. We wanted a test like this to see where we are at, we still have a lot of work of course,” Ellis said.

“There were a few positive moments but the negative moments outweighed the positive ones. We need to minimise our mistakes that are costing us dearly at the moment. We make mistakes and conceded, so that has to be better.

“It’s not a team mistake, it’s individual errors, it’s decision-making under pressure. That’s what needs to be better because when we go to the World Cup, the pressure is even going to be more. We have enough time to get better and hopefully we can get better.”

For the Banyana coach, these matches provided clarity on where the team and individuals stand, going forward some players are in danger of being dropped from the squad.

“A lot of players were tested, we still have to sit down and look at the footage and see who goes with us on our journey, who we release and who we bring in. Not happy with the result,” Ellis said.