"The players really need to step up ahead of the World Cup"- Desiree Ellis
By Neo Poho
Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis has confirmed that midfielder Bambanani Mbane and defender Tiisetso Makhubela are out of the Banyana squad that will be traveling to Serbia on Thursday for the international friendly.
Mbane and Makhubela were both selected last week when Ellis named her 23 member squad set to take on Serbia in an international friendly on Monday the 10th of April 2023.
However, due to the illness of close family members, the duo withdrew from the camp while forward Nthabiseng Majiya has also picked up an ankle injury over the weekend and has also been forced to withdraw from camp.
Speaking ahead of the departure to Serbia, Ellis said, "We initially had 23 players but two are now out and I think traveling with 21 players is not much of a problem because we only have one game so we have enough cover in all areas and it's just unfortunate with Bambanani and Tiisetso but we will support them as a team."
With the absence of Mbane, Makhubela and Majiya, Ellis believes this will give her and the technical team some time to test the depth of the squad after including a number of players who have done well in the Hollywoodbets Super League like Regirl Ngobeni, Fikile Magama, Bongeka Gamede and Wendy Shongwe.
"Well it's part of the game being injured and its part of the game when there are personal challenges so we just have to move on, this will also give us a chance to really test the players that we have and also test the depth of the squad.
"Players also now need to step up because everything we are now doing is all in preparation for the World Cup so this serves as another opportunity for players to raise their hands and really impress, we will definitely also give other players some game time especially those we haven't seen before." said Ellis.
Despite Banyana Banyana winning the 2022 WAFCON last year defeating Morocco in the final and also winning the Turkish Cup earlier on this year, Ellis is wary of the threat Serbia poses.
"Well Serbia is physically strong and something similar that you are going to get from Italy, Sweden and a little bit in Argentina too so this is the perfect preparation ahead of the World Cup, they also have really good and quick strikers that can hurt you if you are not prepared.
"Serbia is also very organised so we will really have to be on our "A" game and just stick to what we have done this week in training and execute on the day but these two weeks have been really good, working with a local group of players that have improved and impressed so far."
With Simphiwe Dludlu and Shirlene Booysen part of Ellis' strengthened technical team as assistant coaches, Ellis believes the addition of Booysen and Dludlu will make them a stronger unit.
“It’s always good to have more hands on board, we saw at the last World Cup that we had one coach sitting in front of the monitor, the goalkeeper coach making the substitutes and I think that’s too little to work with.
“I’m sometimes involved in everything, and I can’t see certain things so Shirlene because of her analysis background, will help us a lot tactically instead of me getting all our opponents’ information, she is busy doing that with our analyst.
"So having more hands on deck and a little bit more input will be helpful, this is because everyone looks at the game a little differently," Ellis added.
The friendly against Serbia will form part of the preparations for the African Champions ahead of their much anticipated second appearance in the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The showpiece will be hosted in Australia and New Zealand later this year between the 20th of July until the 20th August 2023.
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