A second successive defeat in their maiden appearance at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup (FIFAWWC) means that Desiree Ellis and her Banyana Banyana players will have it all to do against Germany in their last group fixture.
Banyana Banyana of South Africa lost 1-0 to China following the defeat to Spain and now have little or no chance of qualifying from Group B into the knockout rounds with a final group game against two-time Champions Germany who have six points from two games.
“You can never be satisfied with a loss. We knew it was going to be a battle out there and China got a lot more opportunities when we pushed players up,” Desiree Ellis said after the game.
“I’m very proud of the team and we gave as good as they did. We’ll dust ourselves off and start looking forward. Each and every player in the squad can pat themselves on the back for this performance.
Having made history by qualifying for the FIFAWWC for the first time the former Banyana Banyana star said: “It’s been a long process where we’ve tried to qualify for the World Cup for so many years. Finally this group has qualified. It’s a process where coaches and players who’ve come before put the building blocks in and as you build the house, you have the foundation. We’re hoping that the performance we gave is heartening for the people back home.
“There’s still a lot of room for improvement. What we want is to show the world we didn’t just come to make up the numbers, that when the World Cup is over people remember this group of players and that they’ll never be forgotten,” Desiree Ellis added.
With already qualified Germany being the final group fixture, it remains to be seen if the South Africans can get a much needed win to give themselves the slimmest of chances at qualification into the next round.
