Ellis: We need to concentrate

Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis (above) says her charges need to learn to start playing from the first whistle in order to win their matches, after losing 1-0 to Ghana in a friendly in Accra on Sunday.

The Black Queens got an early goal through Samira Suleman’s header, beating goalkeeper Kaylin Swart at the near post in the 21st minute from a corner.

The teams head into the final week of preparations for the 2018 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations tournament which kicks off on Saturday.

“We didn’t really show up at times when we were in a position to in the first half. On many occasions we had to resort to the long ball because we didn’t have players in the right areas and we defended poorly, I thought we could have handled the situation better,” said the Banyana coach.

“We made a couple of changes in the second half and started to look better going forward. They had an opportunity through a free-kick, but other than that we were the team in the ascendency. That for us was important and also playing until the final whistle and creating one or two chances.

“In the second half we showed how we wanted to play but we need to be consistent right from the start, which didn’t happen and conceding early on didn’t help at all. But overall I think it was a good test for us.”

Looking on the positive side, Ellis was impressed with her defence, especially debutant Tisetso Makhubela and says the team’s focus now will be on improving on their finishing.

“I was very impressed with Tisetso, she came on to make her debut but played like a seasoned professional at the back. For someone so young, as well as getting her first cap, I thought she was really assured and calm on the ball. Other than that, defensively we were solid, we just lacked a bit in the final third.”

Banyana open their tournament against Nigeria on Sunday.