Olympic Qualifier: South Africa Coach Talks Tough Ahead Return Leg

Banyana Banyana head coach, Desiree Ellis believes there is still plenty to play for in their 2024 Olympic Games qualifier against the Super Falcons of Nigeria.
The reigning African champions lost 1-0 to Nigeria in the first leg at the Moshood Abiola Stadium, Abuja on Friday night.

Asisat Oshoala converted from the spot two minutes before the break after Chiwendu Ihezuo was fouled inside the box by Noko Matlou.
Ellis’ side were outplayed by the Super Falcons in the keenly contested encounter.
The gaffer is however optimistic her team will turn things around in the second leg.

“Look, we said it was going to be a tight game but we are hopeful of overturning this result in the second leg,” Ellis was quoted by Safa.net.

“We are still in the game. We created a couple of chances, a penalty decided the match but the game is not over. I thought in the second half we raised our game a lot and created good chances and could have equalized.

“Maybe we could also have gotten a penalty at the end when Jermaine was fouled but I’m very proud of the team and we will take it back to Pretoria.”