Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has expressed her disappointment in seeing the poor attendance for her side’s first friendly match against Brazil, asking where are the fans that welcomed them in numbers when they won the Wafcon in July?
Banyana, who lost 3-0 to the strong Brazilian side in the match played at Orlando Stadium on Friday, were watched by a disappointing crowd, despite this being their first game after they won their first ever major trophy.
However, the former Banyana captain hopes for a better turn out at the Moses Mabhida Stadium when the WAFCON champions face the Copa America Femenino winner in the second friendly at 18:00.
“I was a bit disappointed that all the fans that came at the airport and then you see such at Orlando, in the township for that matter,” Ellis said at the Moses Mabhida Stadium on Sunday.
“We would have expected more fans to come out. But I’m hoping Durban will be different because when we were here in 2019 [against Jamaica], we had a good group of fans.
“Players want to play in big stadiums, packed with their own fans. That helps them to connect with fans on the field and that is very important.
“But [we understand] there are a lot of other games going on [in the PSL] and a lot of fans are loyal to their clubs.
“But this is a national team. After the girls have done so well at the WAFCON, you would have expected more people to come out because we wanted to say thank you.”
Banyana face a Brazil side that is efficient, scoring 20 goals on the way to win their eighth Copa America title without conceding last month. As the South Americans beat Banyana 3-0 at Orlando, it is eight games and 23 goals without conceding.
Banyana, against Brazil, suffered when it came to ball possession and territory, only looking for counter attacks to breach the visitor’s defence. However, Ellis hopes her side go back to how good they were in the WAFCON in today’s match.
“We got to be better defensively,” she said.
“Not panic under pressure and trust yourself because you know what you are good at, you know what your teammates are good at.
“On top of that, let’s stay true to who we are even though we were pressed high. We have to make sure that we do things right.
“We spoke about rotating the ball quicker and sometimes we were caught in possession, that has to be better.”
