Smeda move ‘will benefit our players’

Leandra Smeda’s move to Lithuania is a big step for the Banyana Banyana winger and coach Desiree Ellis hopes it will open doors for the rest of the players in the country.

Smeda is the latest Banyana player to have secured a move abroad following Thembi Kgatlana and Linda Motlhalo after the pair joined Janine van Wyk at Houston Dash in the US.

The Banyana winger hit the ground running for her new club Gintra Universitetas, scoring the equaliser in their 1-1 draw with Finnish side Espoo FC Honka in the Uefa Women’s Champions League earlier this month.

“We are very excited, Leandra has worked very hard over the last couple of years and reinvented herself. When you least expect it, she comes up with a goal. It could not have happened to a more deserving person,” said Ellis.

“She is growing as an individual, she really wants to do well and she knows if she gets it right she will open the door for others and I am very happy for her.”

The Banyana head coach believes having more players playing abroad will benefit the senior national team.

“You look at the 2016 Afcon where the Cameroon team had about 90% of their players playing abroad, and you look at Nigeria too, practically all their players are based abroad and they come back with all that experience.

“This is something you cannot buy, and that is why Nigeria are ranked at number one on the continent. But with more of our players playing moving abroad, it can only make Banyana Banyana better.”

With Ellis focusing on the upcoming Cosafa Women’s Cup next month, Smeda will continue her Uefa campaign after her team qualified for the last-32, having finished on top of Group J with seven points in the qualification rounds, which means she will not be available for the national team.