Banyana Banyana were undone by Nigeria in their quest to defend the WAFCON crown in the ongoing competition in Morocco.
South Africa played the Super Falcons in the semi-final on Tuesday, winning 2-1 to set up a semi-final date with the hosts. Desiree Ellis' ladies have no option but to battle Ghana for Bronze on Friday night.
Star striker Thembi Kgatlana was controversially omitted from the squad that did the duties in North Africa due to personal reasons. Former Banyana Banyana captain Portia Modise believes that was the main undoing for the former WAFCON champions.
‘I could see South Africa were struggling'
However, the 42-year-old has lauded Banyana Banyana for what they have managed to achieve in the 2024 edition despite missing what he terms as a ‘top player'.
“First, leaving home without Thembi Kgatlana was wrong. We needed to have such a player in the tournament. We needed to have a conversation with her to understand how important she is to the nation, because she is dominating where she is playing now,” she told Sowetan.
“As a nation, do we think we can go into a tournament like this without our top players? If you watch all the games, you could see that she was missed. Our group was not that difficult, but I could see we were struggling.
“[But] they had more camps, more preparations, and more friendly games during the year [before Wafcon]. Nevertheless, we should give them credit for reaching the semifinal,” she added.
Salgado's injury cost SA! Time for Ellis' exit?
Modise has further explained how Gabriela Salgado's unfortunate injury in the 84th minute negatively impacted the team.
“We lost that match after Salgado got injured and the players started to be emotional. Nigeria started to use that on us, and we could not concentrate; we could not even defend properly,” she added.
She has further questioned Ellis' intentions with no formal engagement, “If you believe in yourself that you are the best coach, why do you work in an environment that doesn't give you a contract? Why don't you respect yourself?
“With all the achievements you brought to the table … and you still don't have a contract? It's painful. Maybe it is about time we get new ideas,” Modise concluded.
