Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has explained why she felt the need to beef up her technical team ahead of the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup later this year.
Ellis has enlisted the help of coaches Simphiwe Dludlu and Shirlene Booysen as her assistants ahead of the global showpiece.
The tournament will take place in Australia and New Zealand with Ellis’ side in a tough Group G, alongside Argentina, Italy and Sweden.
They will be hoping to pull off a shock and progress to the knockout stages of the global showpiece, which gets underway on the 20th of July.
DESIREE ELLIS EXPLAINS TECHNICAL TEAM REINFORCEMENTS
Ellis believes the addition of Booysen and Dludlu will make them a stronger unit. She is convinced it will allow them to maximise preparation.
“It’s always good to have more hands on board,” said Ellis. “We saw at the last World Cup that we had one coach sitting in front of the monitor. The goalkeeper coach making the substitutes. I mean, that’s too little to work with.
“I’m sometimes involved in everything, and I can’t see certain things. Shirlene, because of her analysis background, will help us a lot tactically.
“Instead of me getting all our opponents’ information, she is busy doing that with our analyst. So, having more hands on deck and a little bit more input will be helpful. [This is] because everyone looks at the game a little differently.”
WORLD CUP PREPARATIONS
Banyana are currently in camp preparing for a friendly international against Serbia on Monday.
They will play the Serbians as part of their preparations for the global tournament.
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