With just under a month to go before their first match of the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis admits that cutting down the squad from 36 to 23 players is one of the toughest decisions she has made.
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Ellis' final squad announcement will be this coming Friday, 23 June 2023, and 13 players who will not form part of the traveling squad to Australia and New Zealand will learn their fate.
Before making her final decision however, the Women's African Cup of Nations winner will use the team's final training sessions to dispel any doubts she might have over her final selection.
"I'll be honest with you, its'd the most difficult selection I've ever had to make. Just selecting 36 from the thousands out there has been difficult. There are many good players out there, but I can only select 36 and now 23," Ellis told the Siya crew at the Banyana Banyana breakfast hosted and celebrated by Brand South Africa in Sandton.
"It's been very difficult; we have one more session and I want to give myself till the last to make sure that I make the right decisions because we are going to a different competition, and I have to make sure to replicate what we did at WAFCON and to be ready for every eventuality and to make sure that we have enough cover and the right personnel in the different ways we want to play," she said.
Ellis has confirmed that the players who do not form part of the final squad will be seen to by psychologists provided by the team to help them deal with the disappointment.
"It's been very difficult and it's going to be emotional, not just for me but for the players as well because there is a young girl who dreams of going to the World Cup and she might not be there, so we've got a psychologist in camp as well working with the players.
"No matter what I say, or how I say it, I am putting someone's dream on pause and that will be the most difficult thing. Unfortunately, it has to be done and that is why this last session is so important.
"I want to make sure that I don't make the decision too early and I want to make sure that I give the players every opportunity to raise their hands and say, 'coach, if you've forgotten me, I'm still here'," she said.
Ellis' first task at the World Cup comes in the form of Sweden, who they take on at the Wellington Regional Stadium on July 23.
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