Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis says the fact that the three other African teams at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup have registered wins doesn’t put additional pressure on her side.
Nigeria, who have appeared more at the World Cup than any African team, qualified for the Round of 16 after finishing second in Group B with five points, which was boosted by a 3-2 win over co-hosts Australia on match day two.
Debutants Morocco, who finished runners-up at last year’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, won their second Group H match against South Korea 1-0 last week. They have a shot at the second round, if they can win against Colombia and Germany drop points against the Koreans in their deciding group matches.
Zambia, who were also making their debut at the tournament, won 3-1 against Costa Rica in their final Group C match, finishing in third place with three points in the group.
Meanwhile, Banyana lost 2-1 to Sweden after conceding a later goal, while dropping two points against Argentina despite leading 2-0.
The results leave the African champions as the only African team without a win at this year’s showpiece, but Ellis insisted they are not too concerned about other teams’ results.
“I think it’s fantastic that Nigeria and Morocco have won and Zambia as well. But I don’t think the other teams winning, puts any additional pressure on us,” said Ellis.
“I think we have put pressure on ourselves because we really want a result. So it’s not about the other teams but it’s more about us.”
The match against Italy is a must win, with three sides including Banyana’s opponents on the day and Argentina all in it with a chance to make the second round.
In the their last game Banyana lost captain Refiloe Jane to injury with the team Doctor confirming that the knock wasn’t as serious as initially thought.
Midfielder Kholosa Biyana, who replaced Jane, had to be sacrificed after picking a second caution of the tournament making her unavailable for the Italy tie. Asked if she will stick to the same game plan and team, Ellis said she’s not scared to make changes.
“We are not scared to make changes if the game requires it but we make changes based on technical facts obviously and not emotion and with a game-plan in hand,” she added.
“Actually if you look at the one game-plan we were very defensive. The second game was very open and based on that, we will come up with a game-plan that suits Italy.”
The match against Italy kicks off at 09:00 at the Wellington Regional stadium on Wednesday.
