Banyana finished the tournament in fourth place after the loss to Ghana.
Banyana Banyana players during the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Third Place Playoff match against Ghana at Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco on Friday. Photo: Sydney Mahlangu/BackpagePix
Coach Desiree Ellis gave an honest assessment to Banyana Banyana’s surprise loss to Ghana.
This after Banyana went down 4-3 on penalties to the Black Queens in a CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) third-place play-off match at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco, on Friday night.
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The game had to be decided on penalties after the teams were tied at 1-1 at the end of regulation time.
“We started very slowly, got into the game and got a goal when we pressed. But they came out guns blazing for most of the second half, especially that first 15 minutes. We couldn’t get our foot on the ball to slow the game down, and to take control. They were just better than us in the second half and eventually going to penalties, we always knew that we had a chance. Unfortunately, we didn’t win the penalty shootout this time around, so congratulations to Ghana. We live on, and we’ll then start preparing for what’s forward,” Ellis told SAFA media.
“I think some of the games took a lot out of us, but we always knew either getting to the final or getting to the third and 4th place playoff we still had another game. We had five substitutes really because we’ve also picked up some injuries along the way, but that’s not an excuse. We just have to pick ourselves up, these things happen in football – you’ve got to give credit to the opponents, in most situations they were better than us and I not going to sugar-coat that, you’ve got to give credit where it’s due,” added Ellis.
Banyana to ‘dust’ themselves and move on
Following their failure to defend their WAFCON title, Ellis says there is no time to cry over spilled milk.
“We dust ourselves off and move on. We can’t look back too much, yes it wasn’t a great campaign, but we got into the semifinals and came very close to getting to the final, so we’ll just move on. Like every team that comes to a tournament, we had ambitions of winning it, but we didn’t get there. Unfortunately, we didn’t do well today,” commented Ellis.
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In the six matches that Banyana played in the WAFCON, they managed two wins in open play – defeating Ghana (2-0) and Mali (4-0).
They drew against Tanzania (1-1), beat Senegal on penalties in the quarterfinals before going down 1-2 to Nigeria in the semi-finals.
