Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis is confident that the international friendly clash against the Netherlands Women’s team on Tuesday, 12 April, will go a long way in helping her troops prepare for the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup Of Nations (Awcon) in July in Morocco.
Ellis believes facing more formidable opponents will test her players’ mental strength. The Dutch are the 2019 Fifa World Cup runners-up in France and are currently ranked fith in the world.
“It won’t only be part of the preparations for AWCON, but it is also an opportunity to be tested against high-level opponents, to assess if the players have the necessary mental strength to stay focused despite not playing any league matches,” said Ellis.
Banyana are in camp in Johannesburg. In February, they last got together when they beat Algeria 3-1 on aggregate in an AWCON qualifier.
“We are a little bit ahead than what we were when we played Algeria. Six weeks has been added on pre-season, and clubs have played matches and tournaments,” added Ellis.
“Over the last year and a half, we played many of our matches with local players due to the quarantine protocols in different countries, and now it is an opportunity for the players to test themselves further post the Aisha Buhari Cup,” concluded Ellis.
