BANYANA BANYANA interim coach, Desiree Ellis, will be hoping to use their quiet calender year to improve the team’s performance.
Having missed out on the 2015 Fifa Women’s World Cup and finishing fourth at last year’s Africa Women’s Cup of Nation, this year should be about working on their weaknesses ahead of next year’s key qualifier.
Ellis’ charges will be looking to go to the Women’s Afcon in Ghana, where the tournament doubles as the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup in France.
Today’s friendly against Les Bleues will be a test to see if they have improved since their last match in December.
The two come face-to-face at the Saint-Denis in Reunion Islands (9pm).
Most worrying is Banyana’s battle with finding the back of the net. They only scored in one game in their last tournament in Cameroon.
Andisiwe Mgcoyi, Refiloe Jane, Rhoda Mulaudzi, Jermaine Seoposenwe, Leandra Smeda and Amanda Dlamini should work on their accuracy in front of the goal post to help Banyana do better.
The goal-scoring problem with the senior women’s team dates back to before they went to the Rio Olympics.
Ellis realises they have to improve on this area of their game.
Said Ellis: “It’s always good to play against these teams because when we go to our African competitions it’s also at a high level, but you learn to play under pressure.
“Having to be organised under pressure, creating opportunities and the biggest problem is putting the ball in the back of the net. That is one of the biggest things we will be working on over the next year, to improve the ratio of getting shots on target.”
She said: “There’s a lot of Fifa dates and we are hoping to take full advantage of those.
“We haven’t sat down and said what we want to do. Even if we don’t get a game, just to have a camp to see where players are.”
Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies midfielder, Jane, said playing the third-ranked side in the world will help improve the team, but might also be a gateway for players to move abroad.
Said Jane: “Playing against France will lead to a lot of opportunities for our players because we know there will be scouts like it happened with the US game. Janine Van Wyk has now been seen, it shows we have potential to take on the world.”