Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis says she is still not completely satisfied with her side’s performances despite booking their ticket to Morocco.
Ellis seems to have set very high standards because Banyana held Algeria to a 1-all draw at the Stade Omar Hamadi in Algiers on Wednesday night and won the tie 3-1 on aggregate after they sealed a comfortable 2-0 victory at Orlando Stadium last week.
With the win over two-legs, Banyana booked a place in the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON) to be hosted by Morocco in July.
“Our finishing was poor. We could have been three or four up before they scored the goal, also the defending for the goal we could have done better,” said Ellis.
“The left-winger didn’t track back, but this team has a lot of courage, and this team knows we’ve been in this position before. We just needed to keep on playing. We felt they were not a threat except for the long balls they played and the set-pieces they had. And we urged the players not to give free-kicks around the area and handled that very well.
“We always knew we were going to get a chance again; once the penalty went in, we simply took control of the game and just played our game.
Ellis added: “You have to give credit to the Algerians because even though we were 2-0 up and eventually 2-1 and 3-1, they kept on fighting. But I think the experience of having been here and in the team – I think that brought us to this point [of qualification].”
The Women’s continental showpiece will take place in North Africa between 3 and 23 July of this year.
