Banyana boosted but still cautious

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis will look at ways to keep her team fresh as they prepare to face Equatorial Guinea in their second Group B clash at the 2018 African Women’s Championship on Wednesday.

Banyana are still basking in their epic 1-0 success over defending champions and favourites Nigeria on Sunday.

By contrast‚ Equatorial Guinea were humbled 5-0 by Zambia in the other game in the pool.

But Ellis knows they can take nothing for granted.

“It is always difficult to face a team that have lost so heavily because they will come out fighting‚” Ellis said.

“But we have a lot of experience‚ a lot of players who have been part of this team for a while. They are keeping everybody grounded and level-headed‚ that is the maturity they have in the group.

“For the newer ones it is the first time‚ they don’t know the magnitude of this victory [against Nigeria]‚ but after listening to people celebrate they will realise how big it is.”

Ellis says key midfielder Refiloe Jane took a knock against the Nigerians and could be rested. “Fifi [Jane] picked up a slight niggle‚ but she says she is fine‚” she said.

“It is better to have caution though‚ we potentially have a lot of games [still to go].”

Banyana claimed victory over Nigeria in the semifinals six years ago‚ but then went on to lose 4-0 in the final to Equatorial Guinea‚ who admittedly had a superior side to the Class of 2018‚ who are a rag-tag mix of mercenary players and extreme youngsters.

They include 13-year-old forward Berta Ochaga‚ 14-yearold defender Avelina Ndong and four players aged 16‚ to go with seasoned veteran and talisman Genoveva Aonma.

“We will take nothing for granted‚” Ellis said.

“We analysed their game [against Zambia]. We are very thorough in how we analyse and we will have to be spot-on again [with the game-plan].

“Wednesday’s game is just as key as the Nigeria match was‚ getting the three points and taking the pressure off us.”

Banyana must finish in the top two in their pool to advance to the semifinals and after that claim at least the bronze medal to qualify for a first-ever Fifa Women’s World Cup appearance in France next year.

Their final pool game will be on Saturday against Zambia. –