Nigeria, South Africa Learn Lessons From Friendly Defeats

Women’s World Cup-bound duo, South Africa and Nigeria admit they have learned a lot from back-to-back friendly defeats against Brazil and USA respectively.
South American champions, Brazil, outclassed Banyana Banyana 6-0 in Durban on Monday to complete a successful trip to South Africa, after beating their hosts 3-0 in the first friendly last Friday.
South Africa coach, Desiree Ellis thinks her players will learn from the mistakes made during their double header.
“More of these matches will definitely test us,” she said.
“We still have a lot of work to do. The World Cup is not tomorrow, it is about a year from now. We wanted a test like this to see where we are.
“We take the learning out of this as we try to improve with our fitness, technical and tactical ability because we have shown in certain moments that we can play against these top teams.”
The Brazil games proved yet another reality check for South Africa against non-African opposition, following a 5-1 defeat by the Netherlands in April.
However, the side did respond by claiming their maiden Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) title in Morocco in July.
Ellis insists the squad’s attitude and mentality must improve ahead of the 32-team Women’s World Cup tournament in Australia and New Zealand next year.