Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has warned her troops that their quarter-final encounter against Tunisia on Thursday will not be an easy one.
There is a lot at stake heading into the last eight; all teams emerging victorious will automatically book a place for the 2023 Women’s FIFA World Cup co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
“We said we are going to take it one day at a time and one game at a time. This is our first objective, we trained very well, we looking forward to the game, we know it’s going to be a difficult game like any knockout game is, but with the squad we selected, we were prepared for every eventually,” Ellis told the media.
“It’s a once-off game; it’s got nothing to do with what you did in the group stages. It’s got absolutely nothing to do with rankings, nothing with who you beat. Each game is different, and this one is more different because there are no three points, there’s no draw, there has to be a winner.”
“The opponent is coming; the opponent got the same objective to qualify for the World Cup; we have to bring our A-game.”
Ellis, a Banyana taliswoman during her heydays, urged her side to be on top of their game and take every opportunity they create to proceed to the last four.
“It’s important that we bring our A-game because we’ve seen what a good side Tunisia is, we’ve seen the quality that they have, and we always say we’ll never underestimate any team.”
“I have to make sure we are on top of our game for the full 90 minutes, and I have to make sure that when we create chances, we take them. In the last game, we kept a clean sheet. Hopefully, we can keep a clean sheet.”
“At the end of the day, we want to be that winner, but we know there’s an opponent in front of us. They are not going to stand, we have to execute our plan, and if we execute our plan, we’ll come up with a positive result,” she added.
Kickoff is at 22h00 [South African time].
RELATED STORY: Ellis calls on Banyana to ‘step up’ after Kgatlana blow
