Botswana next in Ellis’ sights

Following a scrappy 2-1 win over Madagascar on Wednesday, Banyana Banyana will now shift their focus to familiar opponents when they take on Botswana in their second Group A game at the Cosafa Women’s Challenge at Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth today.

Madagascar gave Banyana a tough time and the home side was forced to complete the last 20 minutes with 10 players, following a red card for debutant Thato Letsoso. Going into this tie, coach Desiree Ellis (above) is anticipating another difficult clash, and wants her charges to pull up their socks.

“I thought we started really well, we passed the ball around at high speed and got the two goals. Then we stopped playing, lost concentration and ran with the ball when we said we needed to pass it around. Then we conceded a silly goal, I think that could have been avoided with a little bit more communication and concentration at the back,” she said.

“The game against Botswana is not going to be easy either, we have played them often enough and they know us as much as we know them. But that is what we are looking for, to up the intensity and be able to play with that intensity for most of the match.”

“Even if you think the defence played well there is always room for improvement. So, we are looking at improving the performance of the whole team and getting a lot more shots on target.”