Desiree Ellis, head coach of the South African Senior Women’s National Team (Banyana Banyana), has warned her charges not to underestimate their Algerian counterparts when the two nations meet in the first leg of the final qualifying round for the TotalEnergies Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, Morocco 2022.
Banyana Banyana host the North Africans on Friday, 18 February 2022 at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto.
The five-time African vice-champions beat Mozambique 14-0 on aggregate in the previous round but will want her players to put that result behind them and focus on the task at hand.
Algeria had no challenges sweeping past Sudan 14-0 in the first leg of their fixture, and were handed a walkover after the second leg was cancelled.
“This is not going to be an easy game as we saw from the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) held recently in Cameroon, that you have to be at your best all the time. They had an extremely good result against Sudan so we will not underestimate them in any way,” said Ellis.
The former Banyana Banyana captain has made changes to her playing personnel after the Zambia friendly, which they lost 3-0 in Lusaka at the weekend (Saturday, 12 February).
She has called up several overseas-based players to beef up her squad in order not to be found wanting against the North Africans.
“The mood is really upbeat and as the overseas-based players arrived it was even more upbeat as we had not seen some of them for a while now. Training has gone really well so far and preparations are on track,” added Ellis.
The South Africans are yet to lift the AWCON trophy and will be hoping 2022 is their year in Morocco – especially after coming very close in Ghana four years ago when they lost (3-4 on penalties after a 1-all stalemate at regulation time) to Nigeria in the finals – their fifth final ever.
“Before we can even think of lifting the trophy, we have to focus on the home leg. We have to really make sure that we get a positive result at home to take off the pressure when we go away,” said Ellis.
The Fennecs will be hoping things go their way as they are in the hunt for a sixth appearance in the tournament – the first ever to be held in the North African region.
They will want to be part of the festivities, and this will have to be at the expense of Banyana Banyana.
“There is no room for error and we all know what is at stake. It’s not just for a place at the 2022 AWCON tournament but also another opportunity to qualify for the Women’s World Cup. This is huge for women’s football in South Africa and it is in our hands to take a huge leap on the continent and on the world stage,” added the former Banyana Banyana mentor.
This will be the third time they collide in the AWCON.
South Africa won the previous two matches 4-0 in 2006 and 5-1 in 2014.
Banyana Banyana travel to Algiers on Saturday (19 February) for the second leg which will be played at Stade Omar Hamadi on Wednesday (23 February).
By Matlhomola Morake
