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Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis is content after her side’s win over Ghana in the first match of the Aisha Buhari Cup played at the Mobolaji Johnson Stadium in Lagos on Friday. Banyana, who play Nigeria on Tuesday, secured the victory through goals from Hilda Magaia of Moron BK in Sweden, Thembi Kgatlana of Atletico Madrid in Spain and Sibulele Holweni of the University of the Western Cape.

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis is content after her side’s win over Ghana in the first match of the Aisha Buhari Cup played at the Mobolaji Johnson Stadium in Lagos on Friday.

Banyana, who play Nigeria on Tuesday, secured the victory through goals from Hilda Magaia of Moron BK in Sweden, Thembi Kgatlana of Atletico Madrid in Spain and Sibulele Holweni of the University of the Western Cape.

“[At] the beginning I thought we were a bit rusty because we had not played since April,” Ellis said.

“We had not seen some of our players since 2019, but the other group has been in training.

“We created a lot of opportunities. We will always create a lot of opportunities. That’s who we are and if we don’t concede, we have a chance of winning.”

Ellis’s charges are using the tournament to prepare for the forthcoming Cosafa Cup in Gqeberha, and as their build-up to the Africa Women Cup of Nations qualifiers.

“We also showed we can play a bit of combination play and get players through and, as the game went on, we got a bit better,” she said. “Towards the later stages I thought we managed the game very well.

“We know there is another game coming, so we have to ensure we manage ourselves very well. We made a few changes. Our team is very versatile and when we made changes, we looked even better.

“We are very happy with the results, but the performance still leaves room for improvement.”