Limbe, Cameroon - Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis says she is proud of her team despite their semifinal loss to Nigeria in the Women's African Cup of Nations in Limbe, Cameroon, on Tuesday night.
Nigeria will now face hosts Cameroon in the final which will be played on Saturday. Ellis said: “Our plan worked for most of the time. We stifled Nigeria and it took a moment of madness for them to score. I'm not sure whether it was a free-kick or not but what a fantastic strike by Desire Oparanozie. We had our chances but once again did not convert them.
“We dominated most of the time but goals win games and unfortunately we did not score. I think South Africans can be proud of Banyana Baynana. We came and we fought hard.”
Florence Omagbemi, the head coach of Nigeria said: “I commend South Africa for giving us a good game. In football, sometimes you are not impressed with the performance of your team, but at the end of the day, you want to win.
“Today was not one of our best games and even the players can testify to that, but at the end, we won and that was what we came here to do. It is not easy to win a game like this with such a performance so I give my players the credit.”
African News Agency (ANA)