‘At any tournament you must get a positive result in your first match or you are on the back foot,’ Ellis told reporters
Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis was delighted to get off to a winning start, after South Africa beat Ghana 2-0 on Monday in their first Group C game of the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco.
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“We said we wanted a great start, we proved it in 2018 and in 2022. At any tournament you must get a positive result in your first match or you are on the back foot,” Ellis told reporters after a Linda Motlhalo penalty and a Jermaine Seoposenwe strike in the first half were enough to seal the three points.
Banyana winning start a good omen
South Africa beat Nigeria in their opening matches of both the 2018 WAFCON and the 2022 WAFCON. They ultimately lost the final on penalties to Nigeria in 2018, but they won the final against Morocco in 2022, to be crowned WAFCON champions for the first time.
So the victory over Ghana is a good portent for a long run in the tournament for the defending champions, though they were not always convincing.
On a hot day at the Honneur Stadium in Oudja, Banyana had to deal with an early wave of pressure from Ghana. Goalkeeper Andile Dlamini then made one fine save after Banyana had gone 2-0 up while Ghana also hit the crossbar in the second half.
“It was definitely hot out there, not just off the pitch but on it too,” said Ellis.
“They had us under pressure in the first 15 minutes, we couldn’t get out in our build up. We changed things and then we got out a bit more.
“The second goal came at a great time, and we could have finished the match off with a third. I think the game was even overall. Andile made a couple of saves. We handled the long balls, we knew they would come on our left side.
‘Defensively sound’
“Linda (Motlhalo) controlled the midfield. We were defensively sound. We know we will create chances and that if we keep a clean sheet we can control the game.”
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Banyana’s next Group C match is at the same venue against Tanzania on Friday. Kick off is 9pm SA time.