Back to drawing board for Banyana

History will record Banyana Banyana's African Women's Championship sojourn as failure after they missed out on qualification for the World Cup.

And their failure can be explained in five points:

Goalkeeping

Young goalkeeper Roxanne Barker was easily the weakest of the three keepers in the squad and Vera Pauw will live to rue her decision to play her after her sloppy display in the first game [against Cameroon] led to the loss.

Portia Modise's fitness

It was not apparent at the start of the tournament, but became clear from the game against Ghana that star striker Portia Modise was not 100% fit - a foot injury hindered her mobility . She did score two against Algeria, but would eventually disappear in the second half of matches .

Selections

Pauw was unable to harness Banyana's attacking strength and this was apparent in her faith in Shiwe Nogwanya, who also was not 100% fit leading up to the tournament.

Noko Matlou, an excellent all-round footballer, would have been better used as striker instead of centre back. This resulted in the tactically disciplined and excellent Lebogang Mabatle not getting game time.

Defensively, Simphiwe Dludlu was often found wanting at right back, though she provided attacking impetus upfield.

She could have been better employed in midfield.

Leandra Smeda being deployed down the left instead of as an out and out forward was also confusing, especially when Nothando Vilakazi started to find her feet defensively.

Unclear tactics

Nigeria struggled against Namibia's searing counter-attacks in their final Group A game but, inexplicably, Pauw opted for an extremely cautious approach against the Super Falcons in the semifinals.

It allowed Nigeria to exploit the deep-lying Banyana defence and midfield and, by the time South Africa decided to attack, it was too late, as they were already two goals down.

Poor finishing

This facet of the game can only be blamed on the players, especially after Saturday's 1-0 loss to Ivory Coast that denied them passage to the World Cup in Canada.

But this was also the case against Ghana and Cameroon, as those were games that Banyana should have wrapped up.

South Africa found their groove against Algeria but poor finishing continued against Nigeria and came to a head against Ivory Coast.

They were rightfully punished when they conceded late in the game.

TV Highlights

Today

Cricket: First Test, Bangladesh vs Zimbabwe, day 3 at 5.15am on SS5

Soccer: English Premiership, QPR vs Aston Villa at 9pm on SS3

Tennis: Paris Masters', day 1 at 12pm on SS6