![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/F1teL-xX0AIdkq2-770x513.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Banyana Banyana head coach, Desiree Ellis, has defended her selection of goalkeeper, Kaylin Swart, ahead Andile Dlamini at the ongoing 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.<\/p>\n
Ellis’ selections at the global showpiece have come under scrutiny from some South Africans as results have not been forthcoming. Banyana lost their Group G opener 2-1 to Sweden after scoring first, and then went on to squander a two goal lead to draw 2-2 against Argentina.<\/p>\n
The WAFCON-winning coach addressed a digital press conference from the team\u2019s base in Wellington on Monday, ahead of Banyana\u2019s must-win final group G game against Italy at Wellington Regional Stadium on Wednesday (9am SA time).<\/p>\n
Even with South Africa somewhat punching above their weight at the tournament, there have been questions over the ommission of goalkeeper Dlamini, who starred in Banyana\u2019s 2022 Women\u2019s Africa Cup of Nations triumph, being sidelined while Swart has looked unconvincing between the posts.<\/p>\n
Ellis has insisted that Swart is capable of the role and insists that she’s in the starting eleven on merit.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure what that is based on because if we look at Kaylin\u2019s involvement, including [taking] the back-passes, it\u2019s higher than other goalkeepers in the tournament,\u201d the coach said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we specifically selected her for [that aspect] to be able to assist us when we go back and get us on the front foot too.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ellis was also asked if she will consider defensive or goalkeeping changes against Italy to which she continued to defend her players.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlmost every team at this World Cup has conceded and that included the number one, two and three-ranked teams. What makes us any different?\u201d the coach asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe look at each individual game and put out a team that we think can get the result. And when a player makes one mistake but has 12 or 15 other good moments, do we replace the player? The margins of error in this tournament are so small and we cannot discount players for every little error.”<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me which coach won\u2019t put out a team to win? It\u2019s also my reputation on the line so I put a team out to win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Banyana need nothing, but a victory against Italy on Wednesday morning if they are to advance to the round of 16 of the World Cup.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Banyana Banyana head coach, Desiree Ellis, has defended her selection of goalkeeper, Kaylin Swart, ahead Andile Dlamini at the ongoing 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup. Ellis’ selections at the global showpiece have come under scrutiny from some South Africans as results have not been forthcoming. Banyana lost their Group G ...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":13880,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14023","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/07\/F1teL-xX0AIdkq2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14023","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14023"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14023\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14030,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14023\/revisions\/14030"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14023"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14023"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.yfm.co.za\/devworld\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14023"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}