Banyana need to improve for Malawi semifinal rematch

Banyana Banyana will once again meet Malawi, this time in the semifinals of the Cosafa Women’s Cup at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Thursday.

The South Africans and Malawi clashed in the group stages of the tournament, with Banyana winning the tie 2-1.

Banyana ended up winning the group with seven points, while Malawi finished just a point behind, and qualified as a best runner-up.

Desiree Ellis’ Banyana won their last group stage games 3-1 against Mozambique on Monday, to seal their place in the semifinals, while Malawi book their spot with a 2-0 win over Angola.

Banyana had to bounce back from a Mozambique equaliser to seal their spot at the top of the group.

“When we scored (the opening goal) we almost took our foot off the pedal and that is when you need to take control of the game and make sure that you play to your tempo, and make the opponents play at your tempo.

“We knew that Mozambique was going to come at us, we have seen their games and they don’t give up. We were talking on the bench that we needed that second goal but then we defended poorly to concede and it was back to chasing the game,” said Ellis.

“We were not worried about what was happening in the other game between Angola and Malawi, we just knew that we had to win our game and the team showed great resilience, character and mental strength that is second to none.

“A lot of them come from the Buhari Cup (Bafana beat Nigeria to win that competition) and most are being challenged, mentally and physically, but I think everyone that played today (Monday) stood up.”

With two wins and one draw since the start of competition, Ellis wants to see more from her team.

“We have got to be better going into the semifinals because there is no room for error there.” Concluded the coach.

In the other semi-final, Zambia will take on Tanzania.