BANYANA Banyana of South Africa head coach Desiree Ellis is confident that her side will earn a spot at the Paris 2024 Olympics women’s football event at the expense of the Super Falcons of Nigeria.
Ellis is expecting a ‘hostile’ reception in Abuja in the first leg next Friday but she is determined to right the wrongs of a failed campaign to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Banyana Banyana will be without goalkeeper Andile Dlamini due to a medical issue, but they have an almost full-strength squad, including midfielder and captain Refiloe Jane, as well as defenders Bambanani Mbane, Sibulele Holweni and Bongeka Gamede, who have recovered from injuries.
“I’m happy we have these players back,” said Ellis, who was speaking at the team’s first training camp at the High Performance Centre in Pretoria.
“That warms my heart and is encouraging, because those are our more experienced players, and their experience is going to help in this situation.
“It might be hostile, and we know how passionate the fans of Nigeria are — we need that experience to get over this hurdle.
“It will be a tough match because they haven’t been in the Olympics since 2008, and their team has changed a bit since we last played them.”
Ellis steered Banyana to their first Women’s Africa Cup of Nations title in 2022 and led them to the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup last year, now she is seeking to complete the set by taking them to the Olympics.
“Having missed out on (Tokyo) 2020, obviously it (going back to the Games) is the big box we must tick,” the four-time African Women’s Coach of the Year explained.
“Having won the WAFCON in 2022, having gone to the last 16 of the World Cup, this is one of the boxes that as a group we haven’t ticked.”
South Africa have beaten the Super Falcons the last two times the teams have met — at the Aisha Buhari Cup invitational tournament in Lagos in 2021 and at the WAFCON in Morocco in 2022.
