Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis I acknowledges that they cannot afford to sit back and relax in their second leg of the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) qualifier away to Algeria on Wednesday.
With ambitions of qualifying for the AWCON tournament, Ellis is of the view that defending well will be vital when they arrive in North Africa following their 2-0 victory in the first leg at Orlando Stadium on Friday.
“The tie is not over though and we have to make sure that we do not concede. We have to be aware of the long balls and I felt Bambanani Mbane and Noko Matlou dealt well with the balls [in the first leg] because we prepared for it,” said Ellis.
“You could tell Algeria are a team with a good fighting spirit and they did not give up.
“Thembi Kgatlana asked me how long to go before 90 minutes and two minutes later the ball was in the back of the net. We needed that second goal because when you play away from home, it can becomes difficult.
“We analysed them and we felt that they were going to sit back in the first away leg to try not to concede. We worked hard to breach their defence and the 2-0 win should put us in good stead in the second leg,” concluded Ellis.
