Banyana Banyana will need to put the disappointment of their friendly with Zambia behind them when they host Algeria in the final round, first leg of the African Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifier, against Algeria in Orlando on Friday afternoon.
Desiree Ellis’ charges were humbled 3-0 by Zambia in Lusaka last week a match whose result Ellis says the team didn’t dwell too much on.
The arrival of overseas-based players this week boosted the mood in the squad according to the coach.
“Look we didn’t dwell too much on the Zambia game because when we came back we were already in the mode to prepare for Algeria,” Ellis said to iDiski Times.
“We didn’t want to dwell too much on it but we looked at some of the things and we sort of discussed it in training and not too much because we wanted to spin a positive vibe, because if we still had to go back and speak about the negatives of the game, I didn’t want to dampen the mood.
“We already had some players that came in on Sunday and some that came in on Monday. So we wanted to keep the mood positive and the more players that came in the more players got excited because they had not seen certain players for more than two years.
“Kholosa (Biyana) they last saw in 2019, Noko (Matlou) they last saw in April last year, Nomvula (Kgoale) in 2021. It was a welcoming moment and I felt we had to fully focus on the Algeria game so we can have a positive spin with the players coming in the levels were raised”.
The qualifier will be played over two legs, with the return leg next week Wednesday in Algeria. The winner of this tie will be at the AWCON finals in Morocco later this year.
With AWCON also being a World Cup qualifier, the former Banyana captain says it will be important to score goals at home to not make things difficult for themselves away. Ellis add Banyana will be treating the home leg like a final and not even try to think too far ahead to the next week
“This is our final, we cannot talk about next week, or the week after or the next month. This is our final, we have to really do well at home,” she insisted.
“We spoke about playing Mozambique away and we spoke about getting a very good result so we come home and not have pressure on us, not the other way around. We have to get a really, really good result.
“Covid and travelling and everything takes a lot out of you, so we have to really bring our A game. Look it is not going to be easy, their players are based in Europe so they are bringing a bit of quality so we have to be on top of our game.
“We have been in this situation before many times but we have to be at our best because that history means nothing if we don’t take what we have learnt in past situations and put it to good use.
“We have played Algeria before, I think the last time we played them was in 2014. We had to win to get to the semi-finals in 2014, so we want to try and use the experience, a lot of the players are here. I think Thembi (Kgatlana) was new in the team, a lot of the players are here that were part of that team that had to win that particular game.
“So we want to use those valuable lessons learnt there to make sure. But we have to be on top of our game because you look at how they beat Sudan, you cannot take anything lightly. We saw with the men’s 2021 AFCON that if you are not coming with your A game you will not get the result that you want.”
Both games will be broadcast on SABC1 and SABC Sports Channel.
Story by Lethabo Kganyago (@ngwanamogoto).
