Banyana Banyana Coach Reacts to Botched Olympic Games Dream

The encounter, which took place on Tuesday at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, ended in a stalemate, ultimately ending South Africa’s hopes for a place at the 2024 Olympic Games.

Banyana Banyana struggled to trouble Nigeria’s defense throughout the match, registering one shot on target.

The goalless draw meant that Nigeria advanced to the Olympics with a narrow 1-0 aggregate victory, ending their 16-year wait for Olympic qualification.

Coach Desiree Ellis voiced her frustration with the team’s inability to seize opportunities, and lamented their lack of attacking intent.

“We knew that coming into this game, we needed to score. We also knew that we needed to score as early as possible because the longer the game went on, the more desperate we would become,” she was quoted by The Sowetan.

“We didn’t start well. We changed the formation slightly because we needed to score and we went with three up front. They got the chance early on and that’s the only opportunity they got in the half.

“But we didn’t go forward as much as we wanted in the first half. We made a couple of changes in the second half and threw the kitchen sink at them unfortunately, that elusive goal didn’t go in.

This defeat marks the second time that South Africa has missed out on Olympic qualification under Ellis’s tenure.

“And for that, we are very disappointed. We also know the fans are disappointed, but I think we can be very proud of this team. They gave it their best shot.”