“You Learn More From Defeat” – Ellis

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis believes the harsh lessons learned against Japan will prove invaluable as South Africa continues its preparations for next month’s Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco.

The South African senior women’s national team suffered a disappointing 5-0 defeat to the Asian champions in an international friendly at Yanmar Hanasaka Stadium on Saturday, with the hosts dominating proceedings from the opening whistle to the final minute.

Banyana are using their tour of Japan as part of their preparations for WAFCON, where they will aim to successfully defend the title they won in Morocco in 2022.

However, they found themselves overwhelmed by a Japanese side that gave them little time on the ball and punished virtually every mistake.

Despite the heavy scoreline, Ellis remained positive about the experience and believes her team will benefit from the difficult test.

“Look, you learn a lot more from a defeat than you do from a win. There are a lot of lessons to be learned, and they were excellent on Saturday,” said Ellis.

“They pounced on every mistake and were clinical in front of goal. We had a couple of half-chances and, with better decision-making, perhaps we could have created more opportunities. But you can’t question the effort.

“I think the effort was there. We played against a really excellent team.

“This is the kind of test we want. We played them a while ago in an international friendly, but these are the tests you need to see where improvements are required and how you can find solutions when faced with similar situations in the future.

“They really tested us on Saturday, and it was a maximum-effort challenge. I thought there were moments when we looked good and other moments when we struggled, largely because of the quality of the opposition we were facing.”

The 63-year-old coach also explained why the technical team specifically chose Japan as part of their WAFCON preparations, saying they wanted to expose the players to a different style of football.

“Look, we’ve played a lot of West African countries that play direct football and rely heavily on their physicality,” she added.

“Over the last two years, we’ve also played North African teams such as Morocco and Algeria, who are technically good on the ball but still bring that physical element.

“Now we’re facing a team that moves the ball around exceptionally well, and against them you need to be tactically disciplined.

“We wanted to stay concentrated for the first 20 minutes, but the opening goal came very early and we couldn’t regroup quickly enough. After that, we made a couple of mistakes, but these are the lessons that will help us if we find ourselves in a similar situation during WAFCON.

“The game continues to evolve and, although we are heading to an African tournament, we understand that new trends emerge all the time.

“By choosing Japan as an opponent, we knew we would be tested. Now we can analyse the match, identify areas for improvement and work on solutions. It won’t happen overnight, but it is something we can build on to ensure we are ready for WAFCON.”

Banyana will have an immediate opportunity to respond when they face Japan again on Tuesday at the same venue in Osaka.

The match will be South Africa’s final fixture of the tour before turning their full attention to the continental showpiece in Morocco next month.