Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis was appreciative of the crowd that showed up for the team in their second round, second leg 2028 LA Olympic Games qualifier against Madagascar in Bloemfontein on Tuesday.
Banyana won the second leg 3-0 and the tie 7-0 on aggregate following the 4-0 victory in the first leg last Friday at Free State Stadium. Friday’s match was the visitors’ home game, and they requested that it be played without any supporters.
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South Africans turned up on Tuesday to cheer on their team as they progressed to the third round of the qualifiers and their support did not go unnoticed by Ellis.
“Beautiful compared to Friday night, very beautiful,” said Ellis on SABC TV.
“But we knew that the fans of Bloemfontein would come out because they love football. So, we just want to say thank you to them for coming out, we could hear the singing, we could hear the support.
As far as the match was concerned, the coach was pleased with the team’s overall performance though she felt the score could have been heavier. Ellis also noted Player of the Match Hilda Magaia’s impact.
“I think we started slowly,” added the coach.
“We needed to get the blocks on the ball more we were dropping deep and then when we got on the ball more, we played a lot more forward passes.
“Hilda then got into the game the crosses came in, and I think we could have scored five or six on those occasions, getting those balls. But overall performance, really happy with it we got the result. We will take that.”