Ellis blames strikers while Kgatlana blames defence after Argentina draw

While Banyana Banyana striker Thembi Kgatlana felt the team’s defence could have done better in their 2-2 all draw with Argentina, head coach Desiree Ellis thought otherwise, saying her forwards should have been clinical in front of goal.

READ MORE: Kgatlana admits defence needs to improve if Banyana are to reach last-16

Banyana led the Group G Fifa Women’s World Cup match 2-0, only for the South Americans to bounce back and force the match to a 2-2 draw at Dunedin Stadium inNew Zealand on Friday.

The draw put Banyana’s dreams of qualifying for the next stage of the tournament in jeopardy, with the team only having collected one point from two games.

During the post-match press-conference Kgatlana, who was named Player of the Match, said “I think we need to work more on our defence because we are a team that can score.”

However, that’s not what Ellis thought, as she believed the defenders played quite well and the forwards didn’t utilise their goal-scoring opportunities.

“I don’t think it’s the defence to be honest. It’s the chances we create (and not taking them). It’s the moment we get into the final third and we make the wrong decisions when your own teammates are running free on goal,” said the Banyana mentor.

“You cannot create all those chances (and not score) and then they create those two chances and they score. It’s about taking our chances, it is about making better decisions in the final third. It doesn’t matter who scores, It’s about putting someone in who is in a better position to score. That is the problem, we don’t take those chances. It comes back to haunt us every time, you cannot say like Thembi says that the defence (was not stable).”

“Our defence has been magnificent. How many chances did we create? How many final third entries did we make that were not completed? That’s where the problem lies, we are not taking our chances. We are always going to be a team that creates but once the goals don’t go in we look at our defence.”

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Banyana’s final game is against Italy on Wednesday at the Wellington Regional Stadium.