South African advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2022 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (Awcon) thanks to a 3-1 victory over Burundi which came courtesy of goals by Thembi Kgatlana, Amogelang Motau and Linda Motlhalo.

Burundi got their consolation goal through Aniella Uwimana, but were bundled out of the competition after also losing to Botswana in their opening encounter.

Banyana Banyana could have won the Group C tie by a wider margin. However, their profligacy (which included a missed penalty by forward Jermaine Seoposenwe) cost them a plumper score at the Moulay Abdellah stadium in Rabat, Morocco on Thursday night.

In the build-up to this year’s Awcon, one word has been used by either Banyana Banyana’s coach Desiree Ellis or some of her most senior players. That is ‘consistency’. They all echoed the need for more consistency by the side.  

So, the fact that after outplaying Nigeria in their opening match of the tournament, South Africa did not steamroll Awcon debutants Burundi — in spite of creating enough opportunities to do so — left Ellis pleased with the result, but not the overall performance.

Indeed, if Banyana Banyana are to climb to the pinnacle of African football and win the continental title for the first time — they will need to be more ruthless.

That was also the post-match assessment by Ellis. Though she ultimately praised her changed side for doing enough to secure the necessary three points,     

“We did enough on the field to get a result. But we over-elaborated at times. Most of the shots taken were practically straight at the goalkeeper. I thought she’d get player of the match,” the 59-year-old coach told journalists after the game.  

“We created a lot of opportunities. But, once again, when we attacked our rest defence was not ready for the counter. We conceded poorly once again. So, that’s something we’ll have to work on,” Ellis continued.

“We said we needed three points, that these points were going to be massive to get us onto the next stage. We’re always looking for improved performances. But today was not a good day in terms of that. But the result is just as important.”

Nthabiseng Ronisha Majiya of South Africa tackles a Burundi player during the 2022 Womens Africa Cup of Nations match between South Africa and Burundi at Stade Prince Moulay Al Hassan, Rabat on 07 July, 2022. (Samuel Shivambu/BackpagePix)

Neighbour next

Up next for Ellis and her charges is the team which denied Banyana a ticket to Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics during qualification — Southern Africa neighbour Botswana.

Ellis said her side would be sharper for the final game, which takes place on Sunday, 10 July. They are aiming to end the group phase with a perfect record.

“We have to make sure in the next game that we start well. We didn’t start well [against Burundi]. We always want to start on the front foot and make sure we put the opponents under pressure,” Ellis told journalists about her team’s prospects.

“We will go back and have a look at what we can do better. And look at the opposition as well. Botswana is a very familiar team that we’ve played against so often. Against them, we’ll make sure we execute our plan. Today [against Burundi] we didn’t execute the plan as well as we should have.” DM