Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis is not giving too much attention to her side’s victory over Nigeria in their Group C opening game of the ongoing Africa Women’s Cup of Nations.
Banyana defeated the Super Falcons 2-1 on Monday at the Prince Heritier Moulay El Hassan Stadium, Rabat, in an encounter they were clearly the better side.
Despite their convincing performance over the nine-time champions, which made them one of the tournament’s favourites, Ellis has downplayed their victory as she hopes to avoid a repeat of what happened in Ghana in the last edition in 2018.
South Africa defeated Nigeria in the opening game of their group in Ghana but lost to the Falcons in the final on penalty.
Ellis has however urged her wards to stay focused insisting that their win against Nigeria will amount to nothing if they failed to win the tournament.
“We all know what happened in Ghana, so we must be cautious and not get too ahead of ourselves after beating Nigeria. This is only the start of the tournament,” Ellis said.
Speaking in the same vein, midfielder Amogelang Motau, who replaced the scorer of the second goal Hildah Magaia in the 69th minute, said they’ve put the win behind them.
“Beating Nigeria gave us confidence and momentum but that’s history now. We aim to take each game as it comes and not take all the pressure that’s coming in,” said the 25-year-old Motau.
Motau also made it clear their intention was to fly the South African flag high by clinching what would be their maiden WAFCON title.
“Our biggest goal is to make the country proud by winning this tournament,” Motau added.
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