Final selection in your hands, Ellis tells Banyana World Cup hopefuls

JOHANNESBURG – The Women’s FIFA World Cup is less than a month away in Australia and New Zealand.

Among the teams chasing the crown is Women’s Africa Cup of Nations champions, Banyana Banyana, who’ve been drawn into Group G, alongside Argentina, Sweden and Italy.

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis recently announced a preliminary 36-member squad which has been at camp ahead of the final squad announcement.

“It’s been very difficult to select the 36, and it’s even more difficult now selecting the final squad. We want to make sure that we cover all our bases. We want to make sure that we are prepared for every eventuality – if we need to change systems do we keep the same team on the field? Do we change? We want to make sure we do all of those things,” said Ellis at a Brand SA breakfast for the Banyana Banyana team.

READ: After Qatar drama, countdown begins for 2023 Women’s World Cup

A beautiful morning as Banyana Banyana is being hosted and celebrated by @Brand_SA for a team breakfast and send-off.

????????????????#PlayYourPart #LiveTheImpossible pic.twitter.com/UgjQ2jFO22

‘ Banyana_Banyana (@Banyana_Banyana) June 21, 2023

In 2019, the national team lost all three group stage games but they hope to secure their first World Cup win this time around. Meanwhile, the US women’s soccer team is looking to record their third consecutive title, and fifth overall, when the tournament begins on 20 July. No team, men’s or women’s, has won three in a row. A fifth title would put the US level with Brazil’s men’s team.

“We are a team that’s position-based and play a little bit on the transition as well, so we want to select similar types of players, and we’re looking for all of those things. We’re also looking for a bit of versatility because in any tournament, when you have that, you sort of have a bigger squad,” said Ellis to Eyewitness News.

The former Banyana Banyana star-turned-coach said they had told the players that being selected for the World Cup was in their hands ahead of announcing the final 23, plus three reserves. FIFA’s deadline to name the final squad is 9 July.

Some of the many faces in the @Banyana_Banyana camp.#LiveTheImpossible pic.twitter.com/b7UGlruaXU

‘ Official SasolLeague (@SasolLeague) June 20, 2023

“We’ve reiterated to the players all the time [that] we are looking for versatility, you know, and we said to them that their performance will select them and that is what we’ve really interacted with all the time,” said Ellis.

In 2022, Ellis guided Banyana Banyana to their maiden continental triumph, with a 2-1 win over Morocco in the final, guaranteeing their World Cup qualification.

“Banyana Banyana is going to their second World Cup, so we inspire them by saying if you made it to your second World Cup you can get more World Cups under your wings and you can achieve much greater things, so for us as an association we have been focusing on women’s football because we are acknowledging the growth of women’s football in the world,” said South African Football Association CEO Lydia Monyepao.

The SAFA CEO told Eyewitness News: “For us, it’s very key that we always remind the girls of their capabilities because sometimes we need an external force to tell you how good you are or to motivate you to be better than you are at the moment.”

The World Cup in Australia and New Zealand is the first women’s tournament to be played in two countries and has expanded to 32 teams.

It runs from 20 July to 20 August.

The winning team from our training session this afternoon.

The VAR had initially denied them a win but they bounced back! We tried to capture the celebration from all angles! ????#LiveTheImpossible #RoadToTheFIFAWWC pic.twitter.com/XlJzJSkKjA

‘ Banyana_Banyana (@Banyana_Banyana) June 19, 2023