Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis has called for more progress of Banyana's development following their defeat to Belgium in the Cyprus Cup.
Banyana ended the tournament in sixth place following two draws, one victory and a defeat in their final fixture. Ellis noted that the results were not bad however, she did insist that Banyana's technical and tactical acumen would need to increase rapidly if the team is to compete effectively in their CAF Women African Cup of Nations World Cup qualifiers.
"We only lost one match in the Cyprus Cup which not bad at all. However, we still need to get the perfect balance between defending and scoring goals. I'm proud of the players and the progress we've made defensively," said Ellis.
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"In this tournament, we've shown that we can be defensively astute but we still need to improve and increase our capacity to score goals. We are definitely heading in the right direction but we will need to get there much faster."
"I'm also happy with the fact that we've given new players the experience to travel and play abroad. This echoes Stuart Baxter sentiment of introducing younger and talented players in the national set-up."
"It won't be easy but our trip to Spain will be crucial in helping these player get a feel of playing outside the country and facing European and teams from around the world," she added.
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The former Banyana player concluded by thanking the South African Football Association for the support they've received.
"I want to say thank you to SAFA for enabling us to compete in the Cyprus Cup and organising for the team to travel to Spain to prepare. All these seeds will bear fruit when the team does well," she concluded.
Meanwhile, Banyana international Thembi Kgatlana walked away with the Most Valuable Player award following on from her nomination for CAF Player of the Year.
