BANYANA Banyana coach Desiree Ellis must be worried about the fact that her charges have now gone eight games without a victory in their preparation matches for the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup.
Banyana will next month head to their first ever World Cup scheduled for 7 June to 7 July in France, where they are circled in Group B alongside Spain, Germany and China.
There has been a strong push for Banyana, who have played in two Olympic Games in 2012 and 2016, to make an impression in the World Cup following utterances by their coach that they are not going to France to add numbers.
However, their recent results where they lost five and drew three times, leave much to desired as they seem to lack the will and firepower required in front of goals.
In the eight matches that they have played since January as part of preparations for the world event, Banyana have only found the back of the net six times.
On Sunday night, Banyana suffered a 3-0 defeat against defending World Cup champions, United States.
Ellis admitted that she is equally unhappy with the results but is satisfied with their overall preparations.
“It always helps to win games so that you can have little confidence.
“It’s all about taking chances, we do create but can’t convert them,” said Ellis.
“It helps going to the World Cup on the back of victories, which gives you a little bit of confidence.
“I believe some of our previous games were winnable. We’ve got to go into the World Cup with a winning mentality.”
Their next test – final friendly before the World Cup – is against Norway in Amiens, France on 2 June.
Their opening World Cup match is against Spain on 7 June.
Ellis stated: “We must win against Norway. We need a win to support our mental strength ahead of the World Cup.
“We must get the result to improve from the US performance. If we don’t concede, there’s a chance for us to win the match.
“Against Norway, we need to replicate our positive first-half performance, but over a full game to prepare us for our first game against Spain.”
