Banyana ready for ‘do or die’ World Cup playoff against Nigeria

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis says they will need to bring their A game when they face old rivals Nigeria in Morocco on Thursday evening.

The winner will advance to the FIFA Inter-confederation play-offs and remain in contention for a place at next year’s World Cup in Brazil.

Both teams failed to reach the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations semifinals, which would have guaranteed automatic qualification.

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Speaking to the media in Casablanca, Ellis said she expects a tough game.

“There’s no margin for error. You know, the disappointment of losing the previous game is going to probably drive us to get a positive result. It’s not gonna be an easy game.

“The two big guns of African football, not where we want to be. It’s a big game for us. We know how big it is, the players know how big it is, but we just have to execute our plan.”

The two women’s football giants last met at the previous edition of the WAFCON, with the Super Falcons winning the clash en route to lifting their 10th continental title.

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Banyana Banyana captain Refiloe Jane said they will leave everything on the field to ensure victory.

“We came here with an objective to qualify for the World Cup, and we would have liked to qualify the first time given the first opportunity, but things didn’t go our way.

“We keep our heads up high, we have another opportunity to do so, so our focus is on the next match, to try and give it our all to continue on this journey. The rivalry against Nigeria goes back over the years. We just have to believe and put in the work, and we have shown in the past that we can do it.”