Ahead of their international friendly against Australia at Kingsmeadow Stadium in London on Saturday, Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has warned the players to step up or risk being left out for the women’s Fifa World Cup squad next year.
Banyana departed for the United Kingdom yesterday to continue with their preparations for the World Cup to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20.
And following their back-to-back defeat to Brazil at home last month, Ellis said the players need to start believing in their own ability when facing stronger teams with the World Cup coming next year.
“We looked at the footage against Brazil and the players analysed the footage and we all agreed that it was not a great moment for us,” Ellis explained to the media yesterday.
“But we also know that we are better. We can’t just talk, we must do the job because we showed that we can play against these teams. Rather than playing them early to make sure that we sort things out instead of playing them right before the World Cup, we realise that there is still a lot of work to be done.
“Along the way, we lose some players and we will gain some and the players now have to step up because Wafcon (Women’s Africa Cup of Nations) was a different level compared to the World Cup and if you don’t step up, we leave you behind and take others on our journey.”
Ellis also highlighted areas she felt the team needed to improve heading into the Australia friendly. “We need to trust our own abilities so that when we get in front of goals, we become a bit more clinical,” she said.
“In the first game against Brazil, we should have been 2-0 up if we had been clinical in front of goals, and sometimes I think we don’t trust each other on the pitch. We are good enough to play against these teams and we also have to be more organised defensively and minimise our individual mistakes.
“We need to make sure we play our way because we can, there were a lot of moments in the Brazil game that we were good on the ball, but we played safe.”
Banyana departed without their number 1 goalkeeper Andile Dlamini who has a family bereavement, while the international players are expected to join them when they arrive in the UK.
Step up or risk being left out of World Cup squad - Ellis
Ellis warns Banyana before Australia friendly
Image: Lefty Shivambu
Ahead of their international friendly against Australia at Kingsmeadow Stadium in London on Saturday, Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has warned the players to step up or risk being left out for the women’s Fifa World Cup squad next year.
Banyana departed for the United Kingdom yesterday to continue with their preparations for the World Cup to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20.
And following their back-to-back defeat to Brazil at home last month, Ellis said the players need to start believing in their own ability when facing stronger teams with the World Cup coming next year.
“We looked at the footage against Brazil and the players analysed the footage and we all agreed that it was not a great moment for us,” Ellis explained to the media yesterday.
“But we also know that we are better. We can’t just talk, we must do the job because we showed that we can play against these teams. Rather than playing them early to make sure that we sort things out instead of playing them right before the World Cup, we realise that there is still a lot of work to be done.
“Along the way, we lose some players and we will gain some and the players now have to step up because Wafcon (Women’s Africa Cup of Nations) was a different level compared to the World Cup and if you don’t step up, we leave you behind and take others on our journey.”
Ellis also highlighted areas she felt the team needed to improve heading into the Australia friendly. “We need to trust our own abilities so that when we get in front of goals, we become a bit more clinical,” she said.
“In the first game against Brazil, we should have been 2-0 up if we had been clinical in front of goals, and sometimes I think we don’t trust each other on the pitch. We are good enough to play against these teams and we also have to be more organised defensively and minimise our individual mistakes.
“We need to make sure we play our way because we can, there were a lot of moments in the Brazil game that we were good on the ball, but we played safe.”
Banyana departed without their number 1 goalkeeper Andile Dlamini who has a family bereavement, while the international players are expected to join them when they arrive in the UK.
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