Desiree Ellis wants a sharper build-up play in next Olympic qualifying round

South Africa secured their place in the next round of the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games qualifying campaign following a dominant 7-0 aggregate victory over Madagascar in Bloemfontein.

While pleased with the result, Ellis insists there is still work to be done ahead of the next round.

“Look, we made about six chances, a little bit of rhythm. We created a few chances in the first half, and spoke about it in the dressing room that sometimes we need to use our flanks. A minute Nox, we created those openings and Ronnel after scoring three goals she was hungry again. It shows the confidence it gives you once you start scoring goals, I think we played very well. I am happy for the results, into the next round but there is still work to be done, a few things we need to work on. We need to continue to work on our build ups, our final third because we know we are a team that can create a lot of goals, once we start being clinical we get more results,” said Ellis.

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The 62-year-old mentor also believes her players need to show more patience in possession and move the ball quicker when spaces open up.

“Not at all, we were on a ball a lot, just that we were not patient enough, we were rushing things a lot. We needed to move quicker, when gaps opened up we needed to rotate the ball quicker. Thembi had a chance, Gabby had a chance as well, and we went into the dressing room to encourage the team to get onto the ball more. Once the first got in, there was always going to be a second and third coming in,” added Ellis.

Ellis also reiterated that the door remains open for new players to earn national team call-ups, urging those hoping to break into the squad to remain consistent and continue working hard.

With Banyana preparing for the FIFA Women’s World Cup intercontinental playoffs, the coach says there is still room to strengthen the squad while maintaining a balance between youth and experience.

“I think there’s such great talent out there. And there’s a lot of players we can choose from to add onto the squad, unfortunately we are limited to a specific number when we choose the squad. We never close the to deserving players, just need to remain consistent and show their form because we still have some big games coming up. We still need that balance between youth and experience,” she expressed.