The coach of South Africa’s female national team, Desiree Ellis has revealed how changing the structure and formation of her squad in Thursday’s play-off fixture at the Women’s African Cup of Nations in Morocco caught Nigeria’s Super Falcons by surprise.
Sports247 reports that Ellis acknowledged that even her own players were initially confused when she gave them an unusual formation, then praised them all for their ability to quickly adjust and fit into the new structure that caught the Nigerians off guard.
Afterwards, Ellis and her players are still basking in the euphoria of their historic 2-1 victory over Nigeria, which qualified them for the intercontinental playoff to next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, while the Falcons miss out for the first time sicne the competition’s debut in 1991.
While the celebrations continue, the South African tactician took another look at the encounter at Moulay Rachid Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco and praised her players for their performance, while admitting she was pleased to get an opportunity to continue their qualification campaign.
The SA gaffer’s commendations came after former African Women Fotballer of The Year, Thembi Kgatlana and Banyana captain, Refiloe Jane scored for her side, before Nigeria substitute, Christy Ucheibe pulled one back with a late penalty, which was not good enough to tie the game.
It not only meant that South Africa gained victory over one of their biggest obstacles towards continental glory, but the 2022 AWCON champions also got a ticket into the next stage of the 2027 World Cup qualifiers, where they will face any three among Uzbekistan, Chinese Taipei, Papua New Guinea and Ecuador in November.
Their surge was a huge relief for Ellis, who also confessed that the threat from Nigeria is always potent, then gave kudos to her players for their ability to key into changes she made to the team’s approach versus the Falcons, which eventually made a lot of difference in Thursday’s game.
Ellis told safa.net, ”I just want to congratulate the players, the technical staff and everybody, because it was a lot of hands on deck over these last couple of days to make sure that we get to this point.
“We changed the team a bit, and I’m not sure they were ready for that surprise. We saw how good they were, but I think we were very resolute. The dream is still alive.”
