Ellis urges Banyana Banyana to ignore Madagascar’s Olympic qualifier tactics

Desiree Ellis has told Banyana Banyana to set aside the unusual conditions surrounding Friday’s 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games qualifier against Madagascar and concentrate on producing a clinical performance.

Madagascar’s home leg will be played at the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein, with the island nation unable to provide a suitable venue. The match will also take place behind closed doors after Madagascar requested that no spectators be allowed to attend.

South Africa will therefore have home conditions for both fixtures, with Tuesday’s return also scheduled at the Free State Stadium. Ellis, however, does not want her players to become distracted by the circumstances.

“We know sometimes it’s psychological games, but we’ve played in Africa and we’ve been through a lot of things, so it’s just something that we will brush off and make sure that we get the result,” Ellis said.

The Banyana Banyana coach believes her side must impose themselves early rather than allow Madagascar to settle into the tie.

“We have to really make sure that we start well,” Ellis said. “Games have shown that if you don’t take the bull by the horns from the start, you end up having to struggle to break down an opponent, struggling to put the ball in the back of the net.”

Ellis’ focus on finishing comes after South Africa’s recent Women’s Africa Cup of Nations campaign, during which they created several chances but were not consistently clinical.

“We probably should have beaten Tanzania, had very good opportunities even against Morocco, even against Burkina Faso,” Ellis said. “And we need to start taking those chances because it was shown during Wafcon that if you don’t take your chances, the result doesn’t go your way.”

She wants Banyana to carry that lesson into their Olympic campaign by combining their attacking threat with defensive concentration.

“We know we’re going to create opportunities and when we create those opportunities, we’ve got to make sure that we put it in the back of the net,” Ellis said. “Keeping a clean sheet is also really important.”

South Africa have not appeared at the Olympics since Rio 2016 and face a demanding route back to the tournament. CAF’s qualifying competition features five knockout rounds, with Banyana Banyana entering in the second round. Only two African nations will qualify for Los Angeles.

Ellis said the immediate priority remained Madagascar, although the camp is also being used to prepare the squad for the World Cup play-offs next month.

“We’ll be preparing for Madagascar, but also looking at how we can get the team to be a better version of themselves come November,” she said.

The coach hopes the second meeting will have a markedly different atmosphere, with supporters allowed into the Free State Stadium on Tuesday.

“We’re hoping that the second game they come out and fill up the stadium to show Madagascar what they’ve missed by not having fans in the stadium,” Ellis said.