Banyana Banyana coach Dr Desiree Ellis has heaped praise at her team, despite losing 2-1 against England in Coventry in an international friendly last night.
Although it was their second loss in a space of three days, the team displayed much improvement when compared to Saturday’s 5-0 drubbing by Denmark.
Ellis said the girls displayed a brave performance.
“There were a lot of things we didn’t do well in the match against Denmark that we rectified against England.
We were well organized in defence and believe that we created a lot of chances.
This match could have gone either way and we are extremely proud of our players because they matched England.
“We are preparing for the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON), and such friendlies are good for our preparations,” said Ellis.
The coach had beefed up her squad following Denmark’s loss, bringing in more experienced players.
Striker Thembi Kgatlana, who scored Banyana Banyana solitary goal, said it was a good and beneficial game.
“We want to play against the best teams, like England which is ranked number 2 in the world, and we’re thankful to the federation for organising such friendly matches.
We’re in a long journey for the WAFCON preparations.
There’re a lot of things we’re going to take from this performance, fix, but also the good things we did to be able to score against England which wasn’t easy,” highlighted Kgatlana.
The team will now regroup and prepare for next month’s tour of two international friendly matches against Jamaica.
