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By Tshepo Ntsoelengoe

Football Journalist


Ellis happy with Banyana’s display at Cosafa 

“Now we are in the semifinal and our opponents Malawi have had fantastic games in the group stages," added the Banyana head coach.


Banyana Banyana are nearing their ultimate goal of winning their record seventh Cosafa Women’s Cup title, following some remarkable performances at the tournament in Port Elizabeth.

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Desiree Ellis side has been emphatic at the competition, winning their three games in the group stages.

It all started with a 2-0 win against Angola, before thrashing Eswatini 5-0 and Comoros 7-0.

The South African senior national women’s team have now booked a spot in the semifinals against Malawi on Thursday.

Ellis is impressed with the way her team has been playing and praised Sibulele Holweni for her goalscoring after the midfielder scored five times in the clash against Comoros.

“Look, before we played Comoros we knew that we had already qualified for the semifinals, but it was another opportunity for the players to raise their hands. I thought Sibulele did exceptionally well, scoring five fantastic goals. We have now played all the players that are in the group to be able to see what they can do at this level,” said the Banyana mentor.

“Now we are in the semifinal and our opponents Malawi have had fantastic games in the group stages. The Chiwinga (Tabitha and Temwa) sisters have really raised the level of their team. We obviously have to analyse and put our plans in place and work on them. But it’s up to the players to execute those plans.”

The Banyana mentor is also happy with the way her players have been able to use their goalscoring chances, and wants to see them doing the same thing against the Malawians.

“It’s a knockout game, there is no second chance so we have to make sure that we execute those plans. If we don’t concede we will get the result that we want. We will always create opportunities and yesterday (Monday) it was good to see opportunities being taken, even though we missed some.”

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