ACCRA – Desiree Ellis, the South African coach, said her team produced a below-par performance in their Total Women’s Africa Cup of Nations Group B quarterfinal match which ended 1-all against Zambia in Accra, Ghana, on Saturday.
Both goals were scored in the first half and although South Africa dominated the second half they failed to find the back of the net.
"It was a tough game for us despite the result. We did not play too well in this game and we have to go back to the drawing board to correct all those mistakes we made in the game.
"Zambia team is a good one and they gave us a good game, one that helped us to notice some key areas that need to be looked at before we meet Mali on Tuesday," said Ells.
"We are not there yet and still not satisfied because we have not reached our goal of qualifying to the FIFA Women’s World Cup so there is nothing to celebrate for now. Coming into the tournament we knew that we had five available games to play to get the trophy and we have successfully gone through with three.
"The seminal is our final match because if we win that then automatically we achieve our dream of qualifying to the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
"We know the Mali game is going to be tougher than any of the games we have played so far because they are also a determined team with the same dream of making it to the final. We are looking forward to the game and hopefully, we will achieve our dream after that."
Thembi Kgatlana of South Africa was named 'Total Woman of the Match' at the post-match presentation.
Holders Nigeria will play Cameroon in the other semifinal in Accra, also on Tuesday.