It's going to be a historic event for South African football this weekend as Banyana Banyana play in their first ever World Cup, and Desiree Ellis has a message for Mzansi's supporters…
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Tomorrow evening, in Le Havre, Banyana take on Spain in their maiden game at a World Cup, with Ellis' troops having enjoyed a 2018 to be proud of as they finished as runners-up in the Women's African Cup of Nations to clinch their spot at the prestigious competition.
With Spain, China and Germany ranked 13th, 16th and 2nd respectively, 49th-placed South Africa know that they have a task on their hands, especially given that the other three nations have 14 World Cup appearances under their belts before going into this tournament in France.
The 7-2 defeat to 12th-placed Norway will have been a bit of reality check for the girls from Mzansi, however their head coach hopes to show 'the South African quality' that they possess as they look to give a good account of themselves over the course of the next few weeks.
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Ellis' statement in full from SAFA read:
"It is a wonderful honour for me and the rest of the team to be representing South Africa at our first ever World Cup. We know and fully understand what a huge responsibility it is that we have been given to fly the flag at the FIFA Women's World Cup France 2019 and to be the best ambassadors we can be for South Africa. It's 21 years since Bafana Bafana made their debut at the 1998 FIFA World Cup™, which, coincidentally, was also held in France.
"In our group, we will face Spain, two-time hosts the People's Republic of China and two-time former World Champions Germany. Spain will be participating in their 2nd World Cup, China PR their 7th and Germany their 8th – which means that all of them need no introduction to this, the highest level of competition.
"This is a huge task for which we have prepared very thoroughly with no less than nine competitive matches this year and we will do our best to make the whole country proud. I believe this is a good platform for our players to not only play against some of the best in the world, but also to make sure they show the South African quality we bring to the beautiful game.
"We have selected a very strong and experienced team, the bulk of which was instrumental in securing qualification for this World Cup at the Africa Cup of Nations in Ghana last year. The squad has well over 1000 caps in total and four players have over 100 caps each (Janine Van Wyk, Noku Matlou, Nothando Vilakazi and Refiloe Jane). There are also some youngsters thrown into the mix, including two uncapped players (Bongeka Gamede and Mapaseka Mpuru) and two players (Sibulele Holweni and Karabo Dhlamini) who will be at their second World Cup in less than a year, following the FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup Uruguay 2018. Two other players (Kaylin Swart and Jermaine Seoposenwe) bring World Cup experience gained from this same tournament hosted by Trinidad and Tobago in 2010. The fearlessness of youth and their extra bit of energy are always welcome.
"Let me take this opportunity to thank the South African Football Association for entrusting me with this huge task of leading the team as the Head Coach. And my sincere gratitude also to our proud sponsors Sasol who have been behind this team for eleven years now and whose steadfast support has played such a big part in achieving this ultimate goal of World Cup qualification.
"GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF US!!!"
Banyana face Spain at 18h00 tomorrow evening.
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