BANYANA Banyana of South Africa head coach Desiree Ellis has given reasons for her side’s defeat to the Super Falcons of Nigeria in the battle for a ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The Super Falcons won the first leg of the qualifying tie 1-0 in Abuja last Friday courtesy of Rasheedat Ajibade’s goal and held Banyana Banyana to a 0-0 draw in Pretoria on Tuesday night to advance to the Games.
Current Women’s Africa Cup of Nations holders South Africa were desperate for goals on home soil on Tuesday night but barely laid a glove on the Super Falcons, who were solid defensively.
Ellis, who led Banyana Banyana to their first-ever WAFCON triumph in Morocco two years ago, admitted that her plans did not work on Tuesday.
“We knew that coming into this game we needed to score. We also knew that we needed to score as early as possible because the longer the game went on, we became desperate,” she explained.
“We did not start well, we changed the formation slightly because we needed to score.
“We did not go forward as much as we wanted to in the first half, made a couple of changes in the second half and threw the kitchen sink at them.
“Unfortunately that elusive goal did not go in and for that we are very disappointed.”
The Super Falcons, who have won the WAFCON title a record nine times, are returning to the women’s football event of the Olympics for the first time since 2008 in Beijing, China.
