Winless, but Desiree happy

It may not have not looked good on the scoreboard, but Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis believes their showing at the Cyprus Women’s Cup has been good.

In the four games the senior national team played, they only managed one draw, which came against Finland, before crashing 4-1 to Korea DPR, losing 2-1 to the Czech Republic and a 3-0 defeat against Finland to end the competition on 10th place.

“We are happy with the way we played and we can only grow from here. We did so well in the second half against Korea, the first half against the Czech Republic until the storm came, even the first half during the Finland game.

“And also, if you look at the last game against Finland, the performance got better. But we need consistency, especially at this level. You want to win games and tournaments but at the same time you want to look at the players,” said the Banyana coach.

Ellis insists that the most important thing since the beginning of the year for the team was to give all the players a chance to showcase what they can offer the team as they prepare for the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup in France, which starts in June.

“We spoke about using the Netherlands and Sweden as preparation for the World Cup and the Cyprus Cup. Other players got the chance to play because we played four games, so you can see what they are capable of,” she said.