On the morning (Monday, 6 February 2023) of announcing her squad to travel to Türkiye, Banyana Banyana head coach and the whole world was greeted by news of a devastating earthquake that had hit that country and neighbouring Syria.
After a lot of back and forth, hours of consultation with several stakeholders – FIFA, SA government, tournament organizers, among others, a decision was taken for the team to travel to Türkiye.
With the matter of safety confirmed upon arrival, the Sasol-sponsored Banyana Banyana played two matches in the Turkish Women’s Cup, leaving head coach Desiree Ellis excited they managed to get together and have crucial game time during this FIFA window.
The games were part of preparations for the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup continue.
In their second fixture against a stubborn Slovenia, the African Champions had to rally from behind to force a 1-1 draw through South Korea-based striker Hilda Magaia in the 76th minute – this after the European side had taken an early lead in the first half (12th).
“We knew the game was going to be tougher, we watched their (Slovenia) game before, and I felt we conceded poorly, and we spoke about the danger of their wingers. They had a lot of possession at times, but they played in front of us, and I thought we handled it well. We changed the formation slightly to give us a little bit more numbers in the midfield and we could have wrapped it up by half time. The chances that we had, and those are the chances that we talked about that we need to be clinical at,” Ellis told SAFA.net after the match on Tuesday (21 February).
She made four changes to squad that started against Uzbekistan in their opening act in the tournament, where they won 3-0, courtesy of goals from Jermaine Seoposenwe, Noxolo Cesane and Shokhida Tojiddinova – own goal).
The three-time African Woman Coach of the Year brought on defender Noko Matlou in place of Bambanani Mbane, midfielders Kholosa Biyana and Ayanda Hadebe came in for Linda Motlhalo and Gabriela Salgado respectively, while forward Melinda Kgadiete took the place of Jermaine Seoposenwe.
“We tried to give as many players as possible an opportunity, but today was a bit difficult because you also want to win the game. Also, players must raise their hands in training more than anything before you give them an opportunity because that’s where it starts. But overall, I think the exercise was worthwhile we said it’s going to be invaluable experience, it was,” she added.
Down 1-0 to Slovenia at half time, Ellis rung the changes at the beginning of the second stanza – introducing Motlhalo and Seoposenwe for Hadebe and Kgadiete respectively, while Salgado checked in for Noxolo Cesane (76th) and Mbane replaced Karabo Dhlamini (85th).
“I thought the second half we showed the character, the personality, the mentality and the intensity, everything just went up – it really showed the quality of the team. We raised our levels, and they (Slovenia) couldn’t cope but we didn’t get the chance, it was half-half, then Hilda scored. I felt maybe we should have had a penalty, but it didn’t happen, in the end I thought it was a good comeback,” added the former Banyana Banyana player.
The South Africans believe there is a lot to take away from the two matches, more so looking at the upcoming World Cup where they will face Sweden, Italy, and Argentina in Group G.
“I think the two games were valuable, especially the last game. The technical ability of Slovenia was good, their one-touch two-touch football was good, and we know Sweden and Italy play similarly. I watched Argentina against New Zealand, they are also good on the ball. The second game really challenged us in terms of physicality and technical ability and the way they move the ball around. We had to find solutions,” said Ellis.
The Cape Town-born mentor was even full of praise for their hosts, who, despite challenges they were facing, made their (Banyana Banyana) stay a homely one.
After the first earthquake (Monday, 6 February) in the Hatay Province, the country experienced even further disaster when another earthquake hit the same area on Monday night (20 February) – about 800kms from where the South Africans were based.
“They are in mourning, and we sympathize with them. We also want to say thank you to them for affording us the opportunity to come here and play football. The place we stayed at was magnificent, the training facilities are fantastic, the playing pitch was top quality. So, I think overall with everything that happened around the Turkish Women’s Cup, the exercise was worthwhile. I think was good preparation, it really tested us. It was invaluable if you look at some of our players that had just come back from preseason and had one game, others are still in pre-season, some have played two matches, some about six games. Refiloe Jane’s season ends in May,” said Ellis.
South Africa will be looking to play more matches to further finetune the squad ahead of the World Cup.
Since lifting the continental title in July 2022 in Morocco, they have played five matches – vs Brazil x2, Australia, Uzbekistan, and Slovenia – winning just once, drawing one and losing three.
Banyana Banyana have scored five goals in five matches, conceding 14 in the process – something of a worry for Ellis, hence they have been focusing on that area in Türkiye.
“We need to take that one step up for the next international window which is April. We need to be better conditioned and tactically better. Even though we conceded against Slovenia, I thought defensively we were much more compact, better organized and in attack we showed a lot more ability but the next step is to make sure we don’t concede at all and to ensure when we get those chances we are extremely clinical, because sometimes in the big games against the top teams you get one chance and you have to take it,” she concluded.
Meanwhile the South Africans have been crowned Group A winners at the Turkish Women’s Cup – claiming with four points, level with Slovenia but Banyana Banyana with a superior goal difference.
The Europeans defeated Zambia 1-0 before being held to a 1-1 draw by the African champions, while Ellis’ charged beat Uzbekistan 3-0 to go top of the group.
The Copper Queens finished on three points, while Uzbekistan failed to tick the points column.
The South Africans are expected back home on Thursday (23 February) morning at 10h30.
FIFA WOMEN’S WORLD CUP BUILD UP – BANYANA BANYANA RESULTS:
2 September 2022
South Africa 0 – 3 Brazil
Johannesburg
4 September 2022
South Africa 0 – 6 Brazil
Durban
8 October 2022
South Africa 1 – 4 Australia (Hilda Magaia)
London
18 February 2023
Uzbekistan 0 – 3 South Africa (Jermaine Seoposenwe, Noxolo Cesane, Shokhida Tojiddinova – own goal)
Türkiye
21 February 2023
Slovenia 1 – 1 South Africa (Hilda Magaia)
Türkiye
By Matlhomola Morake
