South Africa coach Desiree Ellis is certain her side will be ready for the big tasks handed them following Saturday’s tough draw for the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup in France.
The first-timers were placed in Group B which houses world champions Germany, China and Spain.
Banyana Banyana will open their campaign at Stade Océane, Le Havre against Spain on June 8 before taking on China and Germany on the 13th and 17th respectively.
“It’s a tough draw but I think if you look at all the groups, they are tough. There are 24 teams at the World Cup, you cannot expect an easy draw really. It is what it is. We’ve just got to really prepare and plan well, triple our efforts from this year and take the challenge head on,” said Desiree Ellis.
She added: “we’ve played China before – at the 2016 Rio Olympics – we did very well but eventually lost two nil. We haven’t played any of the other teams in the group but we will get as much information as we can and really prepare and plan really well.
“But first, we’ve got to be in superb physical condition. The players are excited and they will be up for it… this is an opportunity to showcase our talents and for the players to try and get bigger opportunities. We’ve waited so long for a World Cup so we’ve got to go there and compete, not just to make up the numbers.
“We were in superb condition for the Afcon and we’ve got a good start again [to year 2019] with the Netherlands and Sweden which is very fantastic. We will play the USA which is great. We’ve got to really prepare and show that we are ready for the first game.”
Preparing against the best
Banyana Banyana have already confirmed four high-profile friendlies while other offers are being considered by the South Africa Football Association (Safa).
“This year, everybody put in a great shift and now every team wants to play us. Before the draw, we had some countries approaching us and even more after it,” the South Africa coach revealed.
“For now, we have already scheduled games against European champions, The Netherlands, as well as Sweden, and we will play the USA as well. We will be ready for the tournament.”
“It’s exciting playing the current European champions and then playing Sweden who are ranked 9th in the world. It’s a good test right from the beginning [of the year 2019],” she added.
Ellis’ side, beginning January 19, 2019, will host the Netherlands at Cape Town Stadium and three days later, welcome Sweden at the same venue. Banyana will prior to the two games, play the Swedes in a closed-door training match on January 17.
On Sunday May 12, South Africa will also take on World no. 1, the USA at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. The match forms part of the US’ three-game “Send-Off Series” before they leave for France, where the Fifa Women’s World Cup will take place.
Thembi Kgatlana’s thoughts
The AWCON 2018 top scorer and player of the tournament, also reiterated that Banyana, who will be making a maiden appearance at the Fifa Women’s World Cup, will need thorough preparation to avoid just making up the numbers in France.
“There are teams out there that we can challenge but it is going to require good preparation.
“It is going to be a good journey for all of us. But it is up to the association [Safa] to prepare us properly in the next coming six months.”
“Playing against teams that have already qualified for the World Cup and also getting Nigeria will be good for our preparations‚” said the Houston Dash attacker.
The 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup will take place from June 8 to July 7.
