Banyana coach confident of winning Cosafa tourney
SOUTH Africa’s Banyana Banyana coach, Desiree Ellis, has declared her intentions of lifting the Cosafa Women’s Championship that gets underway in Bulawayo next week with 12 countries participating.
The South Africans are in Group C alongside Lesotho, Namibia and Botswana, and are favourites to advance to the semi-finals and all the way to the final in a bid to reclaim the title they lost to Zimbabwe in 2011.
They will play their group games at Luveve Stadium and get their tournament underway against Lesotho on September 14.
Ellis made known their objectives when she announced her final squad yesterday, which, however, will be without the injured captain Janine van Wyk, who plays for Houston Dash in the National Women’s Soccer League in the United States.
Speaking to Cosafa.com, the three-time Cosafa Championship winners said the 2011 loss to the Mighty Warriors was still vivid in their minds and they would want to atone for it.
“This is a very important tournament, one which we have won on three occasions. We lost the 2011 final to Zimbabwe and we would very much like to win it again. We haven’t played a competitive match since January this year, and this showpiece will help bring us back to our shape,” Ellis said.
“We also see it as a perfect platform for other players to raise their hands. We are glad we had a selection camp not so long ago and it helped us come with a very competitive squad that we are taking to Zimbabwe. I am confident we will do well,” she said.