Banyana Banyana are standing at the gates of glory – just one match away from qualifying for the Morocco 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations.
The South Africans are in Algeria to face the host nation in the second leg of the final round on Wednesday, 23 February 2022 at Stade Omar Hamadi.
The visitors hold a 2-0 advantage from the first leg https://centrecircle.archgriffin-hosting.co.za/banyana-banyana-with-one-foot-in-the-awcon-finals/
The Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana wasted no time in getting down to business after their 32-hour travel via Doha, Qatar.
They left on Sunday (20 February).
“The team has settled in very well, we had a loosening up session after a tiring hours of travel, but I’m impressed. It was encouraging to see the enthusiasm. We worked on a couple of things. I think our players from Europe will adapt better because where they are coming from, it’s this type of a weather – just going into spring. Some of them struggled a bit in the first leg and that is why we had to make the changes we made in the second half,” said Ellis.
With football being unpredictable, Banyana Banyana cannot afford any complacency, especially so close to qualifying and mental strength will be crucial, and not allow pressure to creep in.
“We have to make sure we are compact and organized in the first twenty minutes because that will be key. The 2-0 score line is very dangerous because the next goal is a big goal – so we have to make sure it our goal to take the pressure off ourselves,” added the former Banyana Banyana mentor.
There are also a few things that the South Africans would like to fix before the big match on Wednesday.
“We have to do better in our positional play. We gave the ball away a lot in the first game and normally that is one of our general strengths. We have to be more patient and not force play in our build ups. We have to make sure that whatever they throw at us, we are ready for the occasion and the training session we had was based on both those aspects of the game,” concluded Ellis.
The team will have their final training session at 17h00pm (Algerian time) at the match venue.
Kickoff on Wednesday is at 18h00.
The Africa Women’s Cup of Nations takes place in Morocco from 2-23 July 2022.
The tournament doubles as the African qualifiers for the World Cup 2023 in Australia and New Zealand.
The top four teams at the AWCON will qualify for the World Cup.
Morocco qualify automatically as hosts.
By Matlhomola Morake
