29 March 2023 – The South African Senior women’s national team is back in business as they continue with their 2023 FIFA Women’s World preparations.
Coach Desiree Ellis’ charges will take on Serbia in an international friendly encounter that will enhance the team’s World Cup preparations. The African Champions return to camp after emerging victorious at the Turkish Women’s Cup in February 2023.
The team reported for a local camp on Monday, 27 March 2023 and will depart for Serbia on April 6 and take on the hosts on 10 April 2023.
Speaking to www.www.safa.net, Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis said the game against Serbia will be important in implementing plans that the technical team has worked on.
“Look, in the previous camp we had very good opponents andin this camp we have got strong opponents as well. We have watched a couple of their games, they are very strong physically, very quick and hold the ball well. Last year in the qualifiers of the World Cup they beat Germany, so it’s not an easy team, it’s a difficult team and we want resistance. We are working on a couple of things on how to get ready for the World Cup and how we are going to approach the first game.” Ellis told www.www.safa.net
“We took these last couple of days to work on conditioning because we know that there is a big difference between international football and club football. In the beginning when we got to camp, we saw players coming back really looking better and we have to thank the coaches who work with these players.
“It’s been good so far, a lot of these players are part of the core group and they have been on form in the league, so we needed to have a look at that. They have been here before, we needed to see if they still add value, can we use them immediately and are they players for the future because they are still young and came through the system.
“We wanted to make sure that every time we come to camp, we grow a little and this upcoming game is going to be important to see how much we can implement, and obviously we look for a positive result.”
The coach further emphasized that the Banyana door remains open for players who can still put up their hands for the World Cup.
“The door can never be closed up until the very last minute when we need to hand in the list [To FIFA], that’s the only time the door will be closed.”