A Little bit more patience, better decision-making, confidence and a clean sheet or two will all be on coach Desiree Ellis’ wish list ahead of the World Cup after their victory over Costa Rica.
After boycotting their send-off match against Botswana due to several issues, Banyana Banyana played their last preparation match against Las Ticas on Saturday, winning 2-0. It was a perfect result for the South Africans, who are hoping to get through the group stage for the first time in the World Cup when they clash with Sweden, Argentina, and Italy in Group G.
But while Banyana put in a nearperfect performance against their fellow World Cup-bound side – who are in Group C against Spain, Japan and Zambia – Ellis still demanded more from his players.
“I am happy with the result, but as the coach I am always looking for improvement. I can never be happy. But today I think we played well,” Ellis told Safa media after the game.
There were a lot of positives to take from Banyana’s win given the fact that reserve goalkeeper Kaylin Swart also kept a clean sheet after she started ahead of regular Andile Dlamini.
“I think a clean sheet is huge. We said in the first 20 minutes, ‘try not to concede’. They (Costa Rica) didn’t look like scoring in the first 20 minutes,” Ellis said.
“If we had taken our chances and made better decisions in the final third, the scoreline would have been bigger.
“I was happy with the changes and the substitutes.”
The changes in the team also included Fikile Magama, who made her debut in the heart of defence, partnering Bambanani Mbane as Noko Matlou watched from the bench.
Magama worked like a seasoned campaigner as Banyana kept a clean sheet, which pleased Ellis, who felt that they could deal with the Costa Ricans’ pressing game in the second half.
“In the second half though, they changed it (their formation slightly) as they brought in numbers up front, but we coped with that very well,” she said.
“I think that we have been working on that in relation to the Sweden game. They gave us a bit of that when they pushed the numbers up; whatever they threw at us, we were able to deal with it.
“A win gives you a lot of confidence (going forward),” the 60-year-old coach said.
“I think the way we played will also give us confidence.
“We expected things to be a little bit different. We also expected them to have five players in defence because that’s one of the formations that they play.
“We had to break them down, but I feel that at times we moved the ball around slowly. Our goal that we scored was from a good movement and combinational play. We did too little of that.”
But while everything looked good on paper, Ellis feels that her team should also capitalise on one of their strengths going into the global tournament on Sunday.
“We need to have a little bit of patience when we are on the ball, move the ball around to move the opponent around, because that’s one of our strengths,” Ellis concluded.
@MihlaliBaleka