Desiree Ellis: South Africa coach sees Super Falcons clash as ‘do or die’

By Oyediji Oluwaseun Babatunde

Head coach of South Africa, Desiree Ellis is looking forward to the fourth and final round clash with Nigeria after beating Tanzania 4-0 on aggregate in the third round of Paris 2024 Olympics qualifiers.

The Banyana Banyana and Super Falcons will trade tackles in the deciding round of the qualifiers in April and the reigning Africa Women’s Coach of the Year sees the upcoming encounter as a ‘do or die’ affair for her team.

“We will look to come into camp earlier possible to do something similar to what we did,” Ellis told SABC Sports after the match.

“We will see down with the technical team and plan the way forward and will decide what we need to do because it is do or die.

“We have to ensure we prepare really well and give ourselves every chance of playing well.”

In recent times, South Africa under Ellis has had an incredible run over their Nigeria counterparts.

In the opening match of the 2018 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), South Africa edged Nigeria 1-0.

Nigeria went on to win the final match on penalties over Banyana Banyana after the game ended 0-0 in regulation time and Asisat Oshoala missed a penalty before the end of the match.

In the last match of the Aisha Buhari Cup, South Africa beat the Super Falcons 4-2.

The last encounter between both sides ended 2-1 in favour of the African champions in the group stage of 2022 WAFCON in Morocco.