17 February 2022 – Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis believes her team has a task at hand to execute the plan well against Algeria when the two teams face off in the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) first leg qualifier at Orlando Stadium on Friday, 18 February 2022 (Kick-off 15:00pm).
With ambitions of playing in the AWCON tournament Banyana will be hoping to get the job done at home before travelling to North Africa for the second leg on Wednesday, 23 February 2022.
Banyana coach Desiree Ellis believes they have done all the preparations and it is now up to the players to execute the plan well to get positive results against Algeria.
“It is match day -1 and it was just about finalizing everything and for the players to get the feel of the stadium,” said Ellis.
“Leading up to this a lot of preparation was done to know what it is that we wanted to do. We just needed to come to the field and try and do similar things. It’s now up to the players.” Added Ellis
The coach also expressed her thoughts on the unpredictable weather conditions which could favour the home side.
“We are used to this weather even though a group of our players come from Europe and some of their players come from Europe as well, even though it’s overcast it’s still hot and we have to take advantage of that and the fact that we are playing at home to make sure that we get positive results to make the second leg much easier.”
“We know that it won’t be an easy game, Algeria has shown that they are a powerful team in the African continent and can’t be taken lightly and we keep repeating that message over and over to the players.”
“They will be up for it and likewise we have to be up for it and we have to be better.” Continued Ellis.
The coach also praised the pitch condition at Orlando Stadium where the team had their final training session.
“If there is one thing you cannot complain about it is the pitch. if you misplace a pass it won’t be the pitch because it is in a perfect condition and we look forward to playing there tomorrow.” Concluded Ellis.
Nozipho Mbatha, Senior Manager: Group Brand & Sponsorships at Sasol, also wished the team well for this mammoth task that they are faced with. She expressed her confidence in the squad and believes that they are ready to fly the South African flag high and produce positive results.
“We are excited about this game, knowing the kind of results that Banyana Banyana produces. The team’s AWCON qualifier campaign has been very successful to date. We trust that all players will go into this game with the same confidence they had when they thrashed Mozambique late last year and that they will continue with their winning streak”, she concluded, reminding the team that Sasol is behind them, and they need to go on and display their “Limitless” spirit on the pitch.