The WAFCON defending champions Banyana Banyana were held to a 1-1 draw by Tanzania in their second Group C game played on Friday night.
The Twiga Stars captain, Opa Clement, headed the East African nation in front in the first half before South Africa fought back to level matters in the second half, courtesy of Bambanani Mbane. The result ensured Desiree Ellis' team remains top of the pool with four points, the same as Mali, who also shared the spoils with Ghana.
Tanzania had lost the initial game against Mali by a solitary goal, while the holders managed to get a 2-0 win over Ghana.
Ellis anticipated a tough outing against Tanzania
“We said before the match that no game is easy, we saw how Nigeria scored in the last minute, that’s how difficult the games are going to be, but you have to take your chances. We felt that if we got the three points, we would go through to the next round already, but it was not to be, there is still some more work to be done,” Ellis said after the match as quoted by SAFA Media team.
“There is no easy team anymore, they hadn’t picked up any points, we knew they needed to win at all costs and they came with a plan, made us play like a team under pressure when we were not under pressure, playing into their hands at times with the long ball, but still there is all to play for in the group.
“We had a good enough team to get a result, they scored early, and we had a chance to score before they could – we didn’t put it away, it is the nature of the game. We didn’t get the result we wanted but we are still in it. I thought the comeback was good, we could have won it as we had a couple of chances, but that’s how the game goes. This team has shown they have the grit, they have the courage and the resilience to fight back and get the result that we deserve,” Ellis concluded.
To play Banyana Banyana is very tough
Tanzania coach Bakari Shime is happy that his players fought hard to get a point, and now hopes they can get maximum points against Ghana to advance to the quarter-final.
“Bravo for my girls, it was a very good game but also a tough one in both halves. Today we tried to change our tactics according to the strength of the opposition and we scored one goal, and we stayed like that for almost 50 minutes. Bad luck for us again because we conceded a goal from a set-piece, but it was a good game for both sides. I am happy with the whole team,” he stated.
“To play against South Africa is very tough. We planned around this game, and we toiled a lot, so now we have to find a way to recover very quickly, physically and mentally. Then we plan how to play against Ghana, which for us will be a final match, we should win that match,” Shime concluded.
The final Group C games will be played on Monday, as Twiga Stars play Ghana, South Africa will be facing Mali.
