Ellis seeks strong performances from Banyana against Denmark, England
South Africans’ preparations towards defending Wafcon title continue against Danes in Aalborg on Friday night

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis is looking for strong performances from the African champions in their high-profile friendlies against Denmark and England in Europe.
The South Africans’ preparations for defending their 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) title in next year’s next edition continue when they meet Denmark at Aalborg Portland Park in Aalborg on Friday night (6pm SA time).
They travel to the UK to face the Lionesses — 2022 European champions and 2023 World Cup runners-up — in a daunting clash at Coventry Building Society Arena in Coventry on Tuesday (9.45pm).
These are Banyana’s first matches since drawing 1-1 and winning 2-0 in their friendlies away against Senegal in June, and Ellis admitted her team were a tad rusty in their first training session after assembling in Aalborg on Tuesday.
“It started a bit rusty yesterday but I think as the session went on it got better and better. The enthusiasm was there,” the coach said on Thursday.
Our first day out in Aalborgh as we prepare for our international friendly match against Denmark 🇩🇰 this Friday, 25 October 2024
— Banyana_Banyana (@Banyana_Banyana) October 23, 2024
🇿🇦🌏❤️⚽️@SasolinSport @SasolSA pic.twitter.com/9MQyGgHcDe
“We worked on a few things. We hadn’t played in a few months so it was just getting them to gel together.
“And I thought it went really well. I was really impressed, because after a long while that’s not what you expect.
“But I think the players are really committed to doing well on this tour. We all know what we’re preparing for: it’s the Wafcon and I think everybody needs to raise their hands.”
In Ellis’s tenure Banyana have progressed from a side that would be competitive against African opposition but could be less so on a wider stage, to a far more confident outfit that fancies its chances of going toe-to-toe with some of the world’s top teams.
That much was evidenced by becoming the first men’s or women’s senior national team to reach the knockout stage at last year’s World Cup, exiting 2-0 to the Netherlands in the last 16.
Ellis wants her side to display such confidence and put in good performances against Denmark and England.
While Banyana are a dangerous attacking team, what really made them Wafcon champions and competitive at the World Cup was they are a hard team to beat.
“We’ve always been a team that has been defensively sound and we’re going to go back to that team that is well organised,” Ellis said.
“We know we are going to create opportunities and obviously we need to start putting more shots on target. If you do that you have more opportunities to score.
“We have to look at improving our performances all the time because we’re preparing for something bigger.
“So the big thing we’re looking for is the performance and, all-round, how we set ourselves up according to the game plan and then everything else works itself out from there.”
Ellis said some internationally based players — including Thembi Kgatlana, Hildah Magaia, Linda Motlhalo and Sinoxolo Cesane — could not be in Denmark “due to residence permit issues — they couldn’t get visas”.
“But we have a good enough squad here to be able to put up a good performance and then we’ll meet up with them in the UK.”
While the senior team are involved in high-profile clashes in Europe, a development combination coached by Banyana assistant Maud Khumalo play their second game of the Cosafa Women's Championship in Gqeberha against Eswatini at Wolfson Stadium on Friday (3pm).
Khumalo's Banyana B started with a 1-0 win against Namibia on Tuesday.
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