Veteran defender Noko Matlou was “forced to withdraw from the squad after suffering an injury while with her club SD Eibar” in Spain.
“Noko had some discomfort after her last game [for Eibar] and went for a scan — unfortunately it showed a muscle injury and she is out for a week or two,” Ellis said.
“We watched Serbia against Bosnia and also had a few of their games [on tape] and they play similarly to what we envisioned.
“This is going to test us defensively and offensively and that is what we want. They play a lot of games during the Fifa breaks and have beaten Germany before [3-2 in a World Cup qualifier a year ago].
“It is going to be a difficult match, but we have worked on our defensive structure a lot as we need to be better at that. We also worked on our offensive structure and if we can put those two together it could be a fantastic result for us.”
Banyana open their World Cup against Sweden in Wellington, New Zealand on July 23, in the tournament being co-hosted with Australia.
Argentina and Italy are the other teams in Group G.
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Banyana know Serbia will be a test having watched them thrash Bosnia
Image: Safa/Twitter
Banyana Banyana got an indication of the true test of their capabilities they will receive in their friendly against Serbia on Monday when they watched their hosts demolish neighbours Bosnia 6-0 on Friday.
Banyana arrived in Serbia on Friday morning, in time to view Bosnia's humbling at the venue where the South Africans have been training, the sports centre of the country’s football association (Sportski Centar Fudbalskog saveza Srbije) in the town of Stara Pazova.
The centre's tiny, 3,000-capacity ground will be venue of the match between Serbia and African champions Banyana on Monday (1.30pm SA time).
The South African Football Football Association said all the players were in camp, with Jermaine Seoposenwe due to complete coach Desiree Ellis’ squad arriving on Saturday night from her Mexican Liga MX Femenil club FC Juárez.
Veteran defender Noko Matlou was “forced to withdraw from the squad after suffering an injury while with her club SD Eibar” in Spain.
“Noko had some discomfort after her last game [for Eibar] and went for a scan — unfortunately it showed a muscle injury and she is out for a week or two,” Ellis said.
“We watched Serbia against Bosnia and also had a few of their games [on tape] and they play similarly to what we envisioned.
“This is going to test us defensively and offensively and that is what we want. They play a lot of games during the Fifa breaks and have beaten Germany before [3-2 in a World Cup qualifier a year ago].
“It is going to be a difficult match, but we have worked on our defensive structure a lot as we need to be better at that. We also worked on our offensive structure and if we can put those two together it could be a fantastic result for us.”
Banyana open their World Cup against Sweden in Wellington, New Zealand on July 23, in the tournament being co-hosted with Australia.
Argentina and Italy are the other teams in Group G.
Support independent journalism by subscribing to the Sunday Times. Just R20 for the first month.
MORE:
Banyana goalkeeper Andile Dlamini is back, thriving between the posts
Serbia friendly will assess quality of Banyana’s preparation, says Dlamini
Desiree Ellis says Banyana will learn a lot against strong, organised Serbia
Banyana coach Ellis confident ahead of World Cup despite poor preparation
Banyana coach Ellis rewards local players with inclusion in squad for friendly against Serbia
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