Sports Desk Reporter
Dr Desiree Ellis has turned her attention to Banyana Banyana’s next World Cup challenge after their WAFCON campaign ended in the quarter-finals.
The 2022 continental champions arrived back from Morocco on Sunday after losing to the hosts. Despite the defeat, they secured a place in the intercontinental play-offs by beating Nigeria in the earlier play-off stage.
South Africa will now compete for a place at the 2027 FIFA Women’s World Cup in the next phase of qualifying.
The intercontinental play-offs are scheduled for November and December. The draw takes place on Thursday, 20 August.
Ecuador, Papua New Guinea, Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan and Ghana are among the possible opponents. Ghana cannot face South Africa because the two teams belong to the same Confederation.
Ellis believes the team has limited time to prepare and must use it effectively.
“We didn’t start well at the WAFCON but got better as the tournament progressed; unfortunately, we ran out of time. Now we have a World Cup lifeline in the inter-continental play-offs, and we have to be at our best to reach the final stage,” said Ellis.
She added that the next few weeks would be important, particularly with players expected to be getting regular game time in their domestic leagues.
Banyana Banyana’s immediate focus, however, will be the Olympic qualifiers.
They face Madagascar in a second-round home and away tie in October.