Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis is wary of the threat that lies ahead after convincingly beating Nigeria 2-1 in their group C AWCON opening match at Prince Moulay El Hassan in Morocco on Monday night.
The win over the Super Falcons cemented South Africa’s reputation as a favourite in the 2022 edition of the tournament. However, that is no reason for Ellis to be complacent going into the tie against a Burundi side that lost.
“We are always looking for improved performance, to be better, to get better and to make sure number one we don’t concede because we know that we are a team that will create opportunities. We are a team that will create many opportunities.
“If we keep a clean sheet, we definitely will create a few opportunities. We also need to make sure we stay focused, we watched Burundi over a number of matches against Tanzania, against Uganda and now Botswana as well, and they[Burundi] can pose a threat,” said Ellis.
Banyana are one game shy from qualifying for the quarter-finals and are facing a Burundi side that suffered a 4-2 loss to Botswana in a match that was also played on Monday night.
“We don’t want to underestimate any team, every game is a new game, and from what we’ve seen, they’ve played differently in most of their games, so we have to be prepared if they change again and make sure we get three points.
“I think talking about the first game, it was massive to get three points, and I think this is even bigger because it will almost give us a foot into the quarter-finals,” the former Banyana player concluded.
Kickoff is at 19:00 at the Prince Moulay El Hassan.
