Coach Desiree Ellis wants Banyana to keep eyes on the ball, despite massive lead

Even though Banyana Banyana buried Madagascar in an avalanche of four goals in the first leg of their 2028 LA Olympics Games qualifiers on Friday, head coach Desiree Ellis says they must still keep their eyes on the ball on Tuesday night.

Banyana walloped the islanders 4-0 in the first leg, and tonight (Tuesday)’s second leg will be played at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein. The second leg will also be played at the same venue due to the Islanders not having a suitable playing venue.

Banyana are in Round 2 of the Olympic qualifiers after getting a bye in the opening round.

According to the SAFA website, this competition will be played over five rounds, with the third set for February/March next year, pitting together the remaining 16 nations. Round four will take place in October 2027, and the final phase in November of the same year.

READ: Ellis confident Banyana World Cup dream can come true

Only two teams will represent the African continent at the 2028 Olympic Games in the USA scheduled to run from July 11 to 29 in Los Angeles, USA.

Striker Ronnel Donnelly bagged a hat-trick, with Hildah Magaia netting the fourth goal and Ellis says the aim is to continue where they left off.

“The plan is to first secure the game, 4-0 doesn’t mean we can underestimate them, we still have to play really well from the start to make sure that they don’t get a foothold in the game,” said Ellis.

READ: Disappointed Desiree Ellis confident Banyana can bounce back at Wafcon

“We said we wanted to take the tie away from them and I don’t want to sound disrespectful, but we have to play really badly that we don’t get through this round, but we still have to put up a professional performance.”

After playing in front of empty stands in the first match due to a request from Madagascar not to have spectators at the Free State Stadium, Ellis is excited at the prospects of playing with some noise in the background.

“We know there’s a crowd that’s going to come out, there’s no two ways about it that you come to Bloemfontein and not have a crowd. So we want to make sure that we put up a good performance because a good performance gives you a good result as well and through that we are able to play better football. I think the last time we were here we played a qualifier, I think it was against Lesotho, so we’ve come back now,” added Ellis.

The coach said even though Banyana has played in other provinces, she knows of Bloemfontein’s love for football.

“I’ve seen it with the Under-23s, with Bafana Bafana and hopefully they can come out in their numbers. We just want to put up a good performance and work on a few things. We have a few days to prepare, and it is work in progress. We also have to be at our best when we play better opposition, this is a rehearsal but it’s still an Olympic qualifier.”

Meanwhile, Ellis has called Lelona Daweti from Sundowns Ladies, following the release of Bonolo Mokoma from the national team camp due to injury.

The game is set to kick off at 6pm.

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