Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis has addressed the height concerns ahead of Wednesday’s final group stage clash against Italy.
The Banyana side has an average height of 1.61m, which is deemed to be the third shortest team at the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
There have been concerns from the public about how the Banyana players appear short against their counterparts at the prestigious tournament, but coach Ellis has since clarified that height is not really a problem.
South Africa has already played two games at the tournament against Sweden which they lost 2-1 and played a 2-2 draw with Argentina.
Now, Ellis’ charges will take on the Italian side in the all-important FIFA Women’s World Cup encounter at Wellington Regional Stadium. The showdown will start at 9:00 [South African time].
DESIREE ELLIS ADDRESSES THE HEIGHT ISSUE
“Look, I don’t think it was a height problem, it was more of an organisational problem, as Sweden scored one out of the thirteen corners that they had,” said Ellis during the virtual media presser Monday morning.
“If you look they scored three out of seven again Italy who had more tall players than ours
“The second goal that we conceded with Argentinean headed the ball the player was 1.5m tall. So, is more of an organisational problem than a height problem.”
BANYANA BANYANA COACH ON KAYLIN SWART SELECTION
The three-time CAF Women’s Coach of the Year further addressed the issue of choosing to start with goalkeeper Kaylin Swart over Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies shot-stopper Andile Dlamini, who helped Banyana win the 2022 WAFCON tournament held in Morocco.
This comes after the coach received backlash from the public on her decision to put Dlamini on the sidelines in the previous two matches
“If you look at Kaylin’s involvement, including the back passes, is higher than any goalkeeper at the World Cup,” she added.
“We selected Kaylin specifically because she can be able to help us to get on the front foot as well.”
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