Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis is surprised and pleased with the level of fitness in her squad. Lethabo Kganyago reports.
The South African senior women’s national team has been in camp for the past four days, the first time this year ahead of the international friendly with Zambia.
The friendly is scheduled for Lusaka on the 12th of February. The match is part of preparations for Banyana’s upcoming African Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifier against Algeria later this month. Ellis says though clubs have had some pre-season she sent out training programmes too.
“We know that the clubs are busy with preseason. We know some of them have individual programmes but like usual we sent out our programme three weeks ago, just to make sure that we cover all our bases. So I’m very surprised at their level of fitness but we needed to do something to make sure that we don’t start from a zero base” Ellis told iDiski Times.
The coach has called locally based players for this friendly due to it not being on a Fifa break. It is going to be a busy month Banyana. They will play Algeria on the 18th here at home and away on the 23rd of February. The former Banyana captain says due to the challenges brought on by Covid they went for a stronger opposition from the South to prepare for the must win qualifier Algeria.
“The challenges of Covid are real and we always have a plan B. We have seen when we travel how difficult it is to get into another country. We wanted to make sure that we get a game and we know Zambia is a very strong opponent and physically very strong. We have watched a couple of games of Algeria and we wanted to make sure that we get a decent game” added Ellis
Andile Dlamini has returned to the squad after a long absence due to ill health and so is Rhoda Mulaudzi who missed some camps last year due to injury. The coach is happy to have everyone in camp adding that depth is important as no opposition can be taken lightly.
