Banyana Banyana coach Des Ellis rued a poor start by her side in their 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday‚ but was delighted with the way they responded against the European champions. Banyana were 2-0 down inside 19 minutes and looked timid and nervous on the ball‚ but after Thembi Kgatlana pulled a goal back just past the half-hour mark they were arguably the better side and missed a number of chances to equalise. The match was preparation for the Fifa World Cup in France this year and will be followed by a clash on Tuesday against Sweden at the same venue. “We responded really well after that‚” Ellis said. “When we put the ball on the ground we played so much better‚ our pace up front was always going to trouble them and we didn’t use it enough. But we were playing against the team ranked seventh in the world and the European Champions. I was very pleased with the performance overall. There were a lot of positives so early in the year.” Ellis was encou...
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