Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis says they are disappointed over their 2-1 defeat against Sweden as they felt they could have gotten a better result in their 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup opener.
South Africa shocked the world number three, and one of the favourites of the tournament when they opened the scoring early in the second half through WAFCON hero Hildah Magaia.
But the Swedes fought back to win through Fridolina Rolfö and Arsenal star Amanda Ilestedt netting a 90th-minute winner with a header from a corner which Ellis noted, was something they expected they were looking to exploit from set-pieces and crosses.
“We had a game plan and I thought it worked out, we were defensively very sound, we knew that was gonna be a challenge at set-pieces and I thought we handled that very well,” Ellis said after the game.
“Our transitions could have been better, our decisions in the final third – if that was better – we would be speaking a different result now.
“We’ve been working on all of those things but as the game went on, we tried to make changes to make sure that we are steadfast, but unfortunately we conceded where we were in control and that put us back at the end, I think it was a bit cruel, but that is football.
“I thought on this performance, even though it was a loss, we’re proud of the way we played, we might not have had the preparation we wanted but the group of players showed resilience, bravery, they have shown courage and through that, we could have gotten a better result.
“Other than that, very proud of the way we played, we had a game plan and we knew what they were going to do, they did exactly what we thought they were going to do, at times, I thought, if we had taken our chances, if we made better decisions 2v1 and trying to go on our own, we could have a different result and even if they scored at the end, had a different result.”
After winger Magaia scored, she was forced off with an injury, but Ellis confirmed it’s not as serious as first feared as she should be available for the remaining games against Argentina on Friday and Italy on Wednesday.
“As she went to put the goal in over the line, the back station of the goal post, she fell with her hand and knee on there so it was a bit tough for her coming off but we have a good squad,” Ellis added on the injury.
“Unfortunately she couldn’t continue after her debut goal at the World Cup, but she should be okay for the next game.”
