Johannesburg -Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has lauded her team for snatching the Aisha Buhari Cup after hammering Super Falcons in the finals.
South African women’s national football team nailed a comprehensive 4-2 victory to clinch the Maiden Edition of the Aisha Buhari Invitational Tournament in Lagos, Nigeria on Tuesday, 21 September 2021.
Speaking post the match, Ellis commended her side for claiming what she referred to as an easy victory for South African women’s national team
“The victory is not just for us here in Nigeria, the victory is for everyone back home and everyone that is involved in women’s football,” she said.
“I think if I look back at the game, we were in control most of the time and we played at the tempo we wanted to play and made them play a tempo we wanted them to play,” Ellis said.
Despite the victory against Nigeria, Ellis remained cautious and urged her players that consistency was important at the international level.
“We had a discussion before with our players that we want more victories, and they definitely delivered, we were duly tested, but we now need to be consistent with our game of play, so we don’t lose focus.
That’s what Nigeria has been throughout past years, we need to focus as well, and since now we heading to COSAFA Cup, we need to shift our focus to this tournament,” she said.
“Dynamics of players really stood out, and we outplayed Nigeria which impressed me, although they thought we will play with the same technique we used against Ghana, but we disappointed them,” Ellis added.
Ellis also paid gratitude to football bodies that supported Banyana since the start of Aisha Buhari Cup.
“I want to thank SAFA, Sasol, Super League and Hollywood Bets as well as the entire fans who rallied for us during this tournament,”
Banyana will now prepare for the COSAFA Cup scheduled to take place in Nelson Mandela Bay from next week Tuesday, 28 September to 9 October.
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