Glory in sight for Banyana
Banyana Banyana are on the verge of lifting the Cosafa women’s championship for the fourth time when they meet hosts Zimbabwe at the Barbourfields Stadium tomorrow.
Coach Desiree Ellis’ (above) charges made a tremendous comeback during the semifinal against Zambia on Thursday, which saw Banyana win 5-3 on penalties after coming back from 3-0 down to the level the scores at 3-3 in normal time courtesy of Leandra Smeda’s brace and Rhoda Mulaudzi.
After the game, Ellis hailed the team’s spirit for never giving up and said the players played for their country.
“We really played for the badge and for the people back home in South Africa. I have been saying that this group is special and they proved they are indeed special. The victory goes to them, as well as to Safa and Sasol who have been so supportive,” the former Banyana captain said.
“I am a kind of person who never gives up, I have never been a quitter. When I was playing in the national team I got dropped four times, but I never gave up.
“The fighting spirit that they had came to the fore. We saw this fighting spirit in the match against Namibia.”
Zimbabwe, meanwhile, earned their place in the final after beating Kenya 4-0.
Banyana have lifted the Cosafa title three times, having been crowned champions in 2002, 2006 and 2008.
The game against Zimbabwe will be a repeat of the previous final, with Zimbabwe winning 1-0.
It is not written in stone, but both Safa and Stuart Baxter confidently expected Bafana Bafana to qualify for next year’s World Cup finals when the coach’s contract was formalised just four months ago.
This was confirmed yesterday by the straight-talking Baxter, who further added “you can say the same for the African Nations Cup finals in 2019 as well”.