South Africa coach Desiree Ellis has dedicated their 3-2 victory against Italy in the Fifa Women’s World Cup to “everyone back home.”
Banyana Banyana became the second African team to reach the Round of 16 after Nigeria following their comeback victory against Italy at Wellington Regional Stadium. After conceding the first goal inside 11 minutes of play, Banyana Banyana pushed hard and forced their opponents to score an own goal 21 minutes later (32nd).
The scoreline was at 1-1 to half-time with South Africa being eliminated at that time. However, Ellis’s speech was apparently strong in the dressing room as Thembi Kgatlana and her teammates came back with a lot of energy. The Racing Louisville star assisted Hildah Magaia in the 67th minute to give South Africa a 2-1 lead.
Read Also: FIFAWWC : South Africa knock out Italy to set up RO16 clash vs Netherlands
But the defence did not watch over and Arianna Caruso equalized for Italy only seven minutes later, her second goal after the opener from the penalty spot. The scoreline was 2-2 until the end of 90 minutes then Thembi Kgatlana stepped up to score the winner for Banyana Banyana in the additional time (90+2).
“It is personal – more so for the players who work so, so hard,” Ellis said, calling her squad “amazing”, after the game, adding: “No one gave us a chance today [Wednesday] but we knew what we were capable of. This is for everyone back home – people getting up in the early hours of the morning when they were all disappointed because we should have won against Argentina.
“I said ‘I want them to go to work smiling in their cars’, because we knew the game took place at 9 am. This is for all the coaches in the league who have played their part, all the coaches and players that have come before, and everybody involved in women’s football. We gave everything against Sweden and Argentina but I said we’ve got to give more.
“It’s about how badly you want this – and they wanted it so, so badly. At 2-2, we went to three at the back and said ‘what’s the use of defending now? Let’s go for it.”
South Africa will face the Netherlands in their first-ever World Cup Round of 16 clash on Sunday.