BANYANA Banyana of South Africa head coach Desiree Ellis expects her side tonight to improve on Friday’s performance against the Super Falcons of Nigeria in Abuja in the first leg of their Paris 2024 Olympics qualifying tie.
The Women’s Africa Cup of Nations holders were beaten 1-0 at the MKO Abiola National Stadium courtesy of a Rasheedat Ajibade penalty, with the decisive second leg billed for the Loftus Versfield Stadium in Pretoria tonight.
South Africa must win this evening at home by at least two goals to secure a ticket to the women’s football event of the Games in July, and Ellis is backing her team to get the job done.
“Looking forward to the game, we have looked at the footage [first game] as well. We know we are better than what we showed in Nigeria,” Ellis said as she previewed the second leg.
“We can do way better than that, and I think the second half showed how well we can play. It is a match we have to win.
“We have to put everything into it to make sure that we get the goal early to be able to start from there. We know it won’t be easy; Nigeria got the one goal advantage and we have to prepare for every eventuality.”
The match will kick off at 7.30pm in South Africa (6.30pm Nigerian time).
Banyana Banyana have never beaten the Super Falcons on South African soil, a record the nine-time African champions are hoping to maintain.
