Banyana Banyana started off their international friendly encounter against Lesotho by claiming a 1-nil victory, at the UJ Soweto Campus Stadium.
Head Coach Dr Desiree Ellis gave a mixed review of the team’s performance following the match.
“There were some good moments and there were some not so good moments.
But the not so good moments came from a lack of movement off the ball, because when we had the movement, we could move the ball around and when we did that, we looked good,” said Dr Ellis.
She highlighted that the two matches are used as a tool to build squad depth in preparation for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in July, by giving young and new players game time.
Despite starting off the international friendly games strong against Lesotho, she implored on the players to up their performance in the next clash.
“There were some things that we worked on that worked, and there were some things that didn’t work.
But as I said, it’s a short period of time with a young group and we wanted them to play.
I thought that if we moved a little bit more, especially the two wingers who were very stagnant upfront, they didn’t give us a lot, especially in the first half.
The minute they dropped deeper, we were able to play right,” explained the coach.
Banyana will now prepare to face Lesotho for the second match of their two-game series, on 25 February, Tuesday at the same venue.
