Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis says there’s no shame in losing 6-0 to Brazil because they knew the South American’s level is higher than what they were exposed to at the WAFCON triumph tournament in July.
Banyana were crushed 6-0 by a tactically-superior Brazilian side at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in a friendly match on Monday night, with Ellis insisting the level in the that posed to them by Brazil would be similar to what they will face at the FIFA Women’s World Cup taking place in July next year.
Brazil visibly upped the ante in their second friendly after Banyana 3-0 at Orlando Stadium on Friday and Ellis insisted her team needs to learn to eradicate mistakes from their performances.
“I don’t think we were 6-0 team and we were better than that, but we got to make sure we minimize our mistakes and that is costing us dearly at this moment,” the CAF Women’s Coach of the Year said after the match.
“At the WAFCON, we made three mistakes and we were punished. In the first game [against Brazil] we made mistakes and we conceded goals and today it was the case, it got to be better.
“When we go to the World Cup, the pressure is going to be even more. But it was a good test, right from the beginning to see what we have to work on, and now we have time to work on things. Hopefully we will get better.”
In the next FIFA break in October, Banyana are set to face next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup co-host nation Australia, with the 2023 World Cup group stage draw set to be conducted in New Zealand on 22 October, according to SAFA president Danny Jordaan.
Ellis said top nations like Australia will give her side what they want because if they go for a lesser-ranked side and beat them just to boost the morale after the two losses to Brazil it won’t help them at all.
“If you are not going to challenge the players, then you are not going to grow,” she added.
“It is important to challenge them. If we play with lesser teams, then [they are] not challenged, we are not going to grow as a group. The players want to get better and the only way to get better is to keep challenging them all the time.”
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