Senegal are not in WAFCON quarters by fluke – warns South Africa’s Ellis

not in WAFCON quartersSouth Africa women’s national team head coach Desiree Ellis has warned her team against underrating Senegal whom they face in the quarterfinals of the CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) at the Honneur Stadium in Oujda, Morocco on Saturday.

South Africa finished top of Group C on seven points – two wins and a draw, while the West Africans scraped through as one of the third-best placed teams. The Lionesses of Teranga walloped DR Congo 4-0 in Group A but lost to both Morocco and Zambia.

“They came out of a very difficult group, and it shows the quality that they have. The games that they played – except for the DR Congo match – were very tight, with just one goal in it. They do have the quality, we played them last year in June, but they’ve improved so much and if you look at where they are right now, we really have to be on top of our game,” Dr Ellis told SAFA Media.

“It’s going to be a game of those small margins – the final and knockout games are never easy, so we really have to make sure that we are in charge and everything that we do, we do as best as we can. But keeping a clean sheet will also be of utmost importance.”

She added: “Playing a team before doesn’t mean anything, those results are in the past – this is a competition and they’re not in the quarterfinals by fluke. They are there because they deserve to be there and we have to be on top of our game to make sure that we get the result.”

The last meeting between South Africa and Senegal was in two friendly matches in June last year away in Dakar – one draw and a 2-0 victory for South Africa, thanks to goals from Amogelang Motau and Noxolo Cesane.