Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has urged her side to play without fear when they face Australia in the international friendly at Kingsmeadow Stadium in the UK tomorrow at 1.30pm.
Banyana are using this match to continue with their preparations for the Fifa World Cup to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand next year from July to August.
After Banyana won the Women's Africa Cup of Nations this year, they were humbled by Brazil in back-to-back matches, losing 0-3 and 0-6. Ellis was not happy with that performance and wants them to improve against Australia.
“What we are going to try and do is work on our defensive side but also rotate the ball a bit quicker,” Ellis explained ahead of the match. “I think if we can rotate the ball a bit quicker, our movement is always good and we are always going to create and we are going to be in a better position.
“We need to show what we are capable of and we have to push our levels up as well. I think the intensity sometimes in some of the matches in the league doesn’t help either. So, a lot of players go back and do extra work and in December and January, we have to work on our conditioning and intensity to get players to a certain level before the World Cup.”
Ellis added that she expected a tough test against 12th-ranked Australia and that they wanted to play other friendlies in the UK but could not get another nation. “We wanted to have another game but a lot of teams in Europe already have friendlies and some of those that we wanted to play are already playing in the playoffs for the World Cup,” she said.
“So we couldn’t get another game in London unfortunately because you also want to test other players. You can only play a certain number of players and make a certain amount of substitutes.
“Some might not get game time and the fact of the matter is that we are looking at playing maybe a tournament and we have always gone into the Cyprus Cup. That’s one of the things we might go to.
“Once we get a core group, we will decide who we will take going forward. But we always leave the door open because there are other players out there that can raise their hands.”
Ellis tells Banyana to play with courage
SA looking for improved showing against Australia
Image: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has urged her side to play without fear when they face Australia in the international friendly at Kingsmeadow Stadium in the UK tomorrow at 1.30pm.
Banyana are using this match to continue with their preparations for the Fifa World Cup to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand next year from July to August.
After Banyana won the Women's Africa Cup of Nations this year, they were humbled by Brazil in back-to-back matches, losing 0-3 and 0-6. Ellis was not happy with that performance and wants them to improve against Australia.
“What we are going to try and do is work on our defensive side but also rotate the ball a bit quicker,” Ellis explained ahead of the match. “I think if we can rotate the ball a bit quicker, our movement is always good and we are always going to create and we are going to be in a better position.
“We need to show what we are capable of and we have to push our levels up as well. I think the intensity sometimes in some of the matches in the league doesn’t help either. So, a lot of players go back and do extra work and in December and January, we have to work on our conditioning and intensity to get players to a certain level before the World Cup.”
Ellis added that she expected a tough test against 12th-ranked Australia and that they wanted to play other friendlies in the UK but could not get another nation. “We wanted to have another game but a lot of teams in Europe already have friendlies and some of those that we wanted to play are already playing in the playoffs for the World Cup,” she said.
“So we couldn’t get another game in London unfortunately because you also want to test other players. You can only play a certain number of players and make a certain amount of substitutes.
“Some might not get game time and the fact of the matter is that we are looking at playing maybe a tournament and we have always gone into the Cyprus Cup. That’s one of the things we might go to.
“Once we get a core group, we will decide who we will take going forward. But we always leave the door open because there are other players out there that can raise their hands.”
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