Cape Town — Desiree Ellis, Banyana Banyana coach, is certain the Turkish Women’s Cup experience will help prime the team for the FIFA Women's World Cup later this year.
Among those who welcomed the squad home at the OR Tambo International Airport on Thursday was SAFA president Danny Jordaan.
“This is the second tournament and the second trophy Banyana Banyana have brought home," said Jordaan. "We are delighted. We wanted to give the team an opportunity to play European opposition.
“In their World Cup group, there are two European teams, Sweden and Italy. I think Slovenia is quite close to the quality of Italy, which will give them a good test.”
Ellis said that there was room for improvement.
“It was a good preparation tournament," said Ellis. "It really gave us a lot of information in terms of our players. It gave us pointers on what we still have to work on, what we did better and how we can improve as a team.
"It is a big year for the team. The World Cup is coming up and we need to make sure that we are ready. I am happy with what I saw from the players. We created chances and we managed to utilise them, especially in our first game.
“The association is trying very hard to make sure that we are ready when the World Cup starts, as well as our sponsors."
Prior to flying out from Turkey on Wednesday, the Sasol-sponsored African champions were officially crowned as the Group A winners of the Turkish Women’s Cup.
They won their group on goal difference after beating Uzbekistan 3-0 on Saturday (18 February) and drawing 1-1 with eventual runners-up Slovenia on Tuesday afternoon (21 February). Both matches were played at the Emirhan Sports Complex in Antalya.
“It was very important to have a team like yours here because you are FIFA Women’s World Cup participants. This is very important and we hope at the same time this was a very good experience for you,” said Evima Football official Evgeni Marinov.
“After the game against Slovenia, we said the winner of the event was your national team, South Africa. You have the same points as Slovenia but in terms of the goal difference, yours is better and you are in the first place.”
Marinov also confirmed that Hildah Magaia, who scored the equaliser against Slovenia on Tuesday, was named the midfielder of the tournament.
IOL Sport