Banyana upbeat home advantage will give edge over Nigeria

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis and striker Thembi Kgatlana remain optimistic they can overturn the 1-0 Olympics qualifying first-leg defeat they suffered away to Nigeria in Tuesday’s home leg in Pretoria.  

The SA women’s football team lost in Abuja on Friday. Banyana welcome the Super Falcons for the deciding leg at Loftus Versfeld Stadium (7.30pm).

“In the first half [in Abuja], we started a bit slow and coming into the second half we were better. That’s the positive we need to take at home with familiar facilities,” Kgatlana said.

“The good thing is this is not a tournament. We know after the game in Pretoria  whoever wins will go through, but they have the advantage after the first leg. There is no away-goal rule.

“I also think that gives us more confidence because we are not chasing the game. We have to win with a better score. We also have an advantage at home with better facilities.”

Ellis shared Kgatlana’s sentiments and said while her team need to score, they also have to make sure they don’t concede.

“We have to look at the footage to see how we can rectify things and how we can be better. We need to score, but we need to be aware to not concede and make sure we score first to get the game back on at even,” Ellis said.

“They don’t have to come [attack], they can sit back, but the onus is on us. We are going back to familiar surroundings and we hope to take the game to them.”

Banyana’s task is not an impossible mission as the African champions need a 1-0 win to force the fixture to a penalty shoot-out, or any two-goal margin victory to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics.