Brazil clash not just a friendly, but a World Cup preparation – Ellis

Facing Brazil in two international friendly games will be a good preparation for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup, says Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis.

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Banyana play Copa America champions Brazil in the first friendly match at Orlando Stadium at 6pm this evening and Ellis believes the game will give the players the opportunity to show how much they want to be in the squad for the World Cup.

“Yes, it is a friendly, but it is preparation game for the World Cup. So, it is an opportunity for players to remind us that they want to stay in the team. It is an opportunity for players to test themselves, we know it is a friendly game,” said Ellis.

“But I said to the players, yes, it is a friendly but it is a preparation for the World Cup. We have a year now (to prepare) instead of six months, so let’s make good use of this and let’s make sure when we send our programs you (players) utilise them.”

Banyana qualified for their second World Cup after winning this year’s Caf Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) in Morocco in July. The first time the team qualified for the global tournament was in 2019.

And now, with Banyana having plenty of time to prepare, Ellis knows what the team needs to do to improve and be competitive at the World Cup.

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“When I was at the Fifa/Caf workshop not so long and we looked at the stats, the fitness trainer of the US Dawn Scott, works for Fifa now and she was doing a comparison of 2015 and 2019. Normally it is the tactics or the technical. The smallest increase was the distance covered, the biggest increase was the intensity of the game. And I think in that way the intensity of the game always dictates what happens. If we don’t move with that we are going to be left behind,” she added.