The Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana team remains upbeat despite their recent friendly international defeat to Serbia at the SC FA of Serbia – Stara Pazova.
The African champions fought their way back from a three-goal deficit to finish their friendly international against the 35th-ranked hosts at 2-3. Despite their failure to find the elusive third goal that would have ensured a share of the spoils, coach Desiree Ellis was impressed with the fighting spirit displayed by her charges.
“I think in the first 15 minutes when they got those corners and set-pieces, we did not organise very well. I think with the third goal we could have dealt better with that set-piece. But after that, we were in complete control. We got one or two chances that we did not take, then we got another one and we took it and went to halftime at 3-1,” said Ellis.
“We were better in the second half; we kept the intensity up and we kept rotating the ball very quickly. We got another chance and Jermaine scored. We just could not get that final one. There are a couple of boxes we can tick off, but of course not the result we wanted. We need to go back and have a look at the set-pieces and see how we can do that better. I would like to have a look before I even speak about it.”
Prolific goal scorer, Hildah Magaia believes it will be important for the players to go back to their respective clubs and work very hard before returning to the next camp with the national team.
“I think from here it’s going back again to work harder as we did with the previous games. We went back to our clubs and worked very hard, and we need to do the same thing to earn that call-up again,” she said.
“After we conceded those three goals, that’s when we realized we needed to up our game. We got together and spoke about the fact that we needed to pull up our socks because we were not confident on the ball. My goal definitely helped with boosting my spirit and it did the same thing for my teammates.”
Ellis was not the only one impressed with the second-half fight, Sasol Senior Manager: Group Brand and Sponsorship, Nozipho Mbatha said they were proud of the quality of football the team displayed.
“A difficult start to the game with a quick opposition goal at the 8th minute, but our team fought back and gained control. Banyana Banyana remained focused and determined, despite being 3-0 down,” Mbatha said.
“Their persistent fighting spirit was commendable and that is exactly what we want to see as they prepare for the upcoming campaign in Australia and New Zealand. The team mirrored our mantra, Live The Impossible, for the duration of the match as they worked hard on the field of play to turn things around. Congratulations to the coaching staff, players, and team management for a sterling effort.”
Click here to read more about Banyana Banyana.
