Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has declared their play-off tie for a place at the Summer Olympics in Paris against Nigeria as a do-or-die.
Banyana Banyana overcame the Twiga Stars of Tanzania 4-0 on aggregate in the third round of qualifiers to qualify while Nigeria eliminated Cameroon via a 1-nil scoreline to set up a mouthwatering clash with Banyana.
“It will be do or die [against Nigeria],” declared Ellis, adding: “We want to have an early camp; we will improve our chances when we prepare early and very well.”
South Africa’s last appearance at the Olympics was in 2016. They will hope to get the best out of the nine-time African champions. Thembi Kgatlana’s goal was enough to add on to the 3-0 away victory that the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations defending champions recorded in the first leg in Tanzania.
Nigeria, on the other hand, has failed to qualify for the Olympics since 2008, when they were eliminated in the group stages. They lost all three matches at the Beijing edition, with just one goal scored while conceding five.
The two sides will meet in April for a ticket to Paris. Only two countries from Africa will qualify for the Olympics. Zambia and Morocco will battle for the other slot.
- Additional information Bola News.