Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has hailed her charges after downing reigning champions Nigeria 2-1 in their Group C opener of the 2022 Awcon.
Ellis who was fully aware of the Super Falcons threat strategically planned for the tie and it worked in their favour. The players mastered it very well and were rewarded with a massive three points.
“The players were magnificent, they executed the plan to the T, maybe in the first half we could have played a lot of balls through, but we executed much better second half,” Ellis told the media.
“We knew we couldn’t physically match them, our strength was to put the ball on the ground and move the ball much quicker. It was slow in the first half, we didn’t play through the channels. We controlled the tempo, I think the players moved the ball in the second half much better, our passing of the ball and switching was much better.”
“We snuff out their long balls, we knew that if we press they are going to make mistakes and through that, that’s how the goals came. They executed the plan very well, but the job is not done.”
Ellis further revealed that they will take all their games seriously, despite defeating the competition favourites.
“This was a massive three points, we needed to get agood result to set the tone for the rest of the tournament. We not going to underestimate any team, we’ve seen teams that are here. We are going to make sure we prepare and plan well,” she added.
Up next Banyana face debutants Burundi on July 7th who will be aiming to register their first ever win after a 4-2 hammering by Botswana.
