D-Day For Ellis & Banyana

Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis has some big decisions to make, as she names her final squad on Monday for next month’s CAF African Women’s Cup of Nations finals in Morocco.

The team has been in camp for the past week or two, and this weekend their foreign contingent began to unite with the team.

Ellis has already cut five players from the original 33 names that were released, while Gabriela Salgado had to withdraw due to injury last week already.

Speaking in the latest edition of iDiski Times to Lethabo Kganyago, Ellis outlined what she was looking for in her final selection.

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“We are obviously looking at the way we want to play, and who can add value,” Ellis told iDiski Times.

“We are also looking to add versatility, which is very important when you’re going into a tournament with a squad, we have to make sure that you can cover all your bases in terms of player availability in different positions. I think that is key.

“You know, we will have our training sessions and see how players raise their hands and have a look at who we can select in terms of like I said how we want to play. It’s very important that players fit into that, you know, obviously, the intensity goes up and that is a huge challenge for many players.

“But that is the level of international football, you know, there’s a huge difference between playing in the league and playing international football. So we’ll see who can raise the levels because a lot of players come in and they struggle a bit with the intensity, and we’ve made it known that out there, the intensity must be higher and quicker.

“So we’re looking for players, good on the ball, players that can read the game, have a wide variety of skills, in terms of playing, being able to play long and short ball. The strikers that can finish under pressure, you know those type of things, because that is what we’re looking for and that is what’s going to happen in the tournament.”

Click below to read the FREE digital version of the iDiski Times newspaper, with interviews with Daniel Akpeyi, Ria Ledwaba chatting about her SAFA Presidential campaign, Desiree Ellis on Banyana Banyana ahead of the AWCON, plus features on CAF Licenses and Shawn Bishop’s trip to Portugal and the latest transfer rumours!