Head Coach of Banyana Banyana of South Africa, Desiree Ellis has blamed missed chances for her side’s loss to the Super Falcons of Nigeria.
The defending champions fell to a disappointing 2-1 defeat against the Super Falcons in their semi-final contest at the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations on Tuesday night. Nigeria took the lead through Rasheedat Ajibade, who converted a penalty late in the first half.
Linda Motlhalo levelled for South Africa from another penalty on the hour mark. South Africa had chances to win the game afterwards but were let down by their poor finishing. Michelle Alozie broke their hearts with a late winner for Nigeria.
Ellis said they were desparate to win the game, and claim a second consecutive title.
“We wanted to win. If we had taken our chances, we could have won the game,” the coach said at the post-match presser. “What impacted us was the injury, as you could see how emotional the players were. I knew it was serious because I could see them running away after seeing it. I think that affected them in the last minutes, and they didn’t recover. Unfortunately, it’s part of the game.”
The Nigerian players were equally shocked by Salgado’s injury with Nigeria captain and Player of the Match Rasheedat Ajibade expressing her sadness.
“Injury is one of the biggest challenges for any athlete, any injury can happen, but to see a broken shin on the field, knowing it can happen to me, my teammates as well, was very sad,”Ajibade said after the game.
“We express the same emotion [as them], and we’re very sad for them. We’ll follow up with the player and see how she’s recovering.
“We wish her the very best and hope she comes back stronger, we wish her the very best. We’re honestly very broken and depressed.”
South Africa will now battle the Black Queens of Ghana for third position on Friday.
