Opinion piece by Safa CT technical director, Boebie Solomons.
In my opinion I feel that we did very well playing against one of the top three ranked teams in the world and in our first match.
Defensively we were very well organised
We were very compact and we did not allow big distances in between us which resulted in Sweden not being able to exploit us.
So we were very nice and compact defending their speed and onslaught and we covered for each other very well.
The midfielders did very well to put pressure on their midfielders and they could not create very dangerous situations by getting behind our last line.
So, the cooperation between the defence and attack was very good. The only real opportunities against us was with aerial balls into our box and with dead-ball situations which are corners and free kicks.
In this instance there is nothing that the coach can do if the aerial power and the height is not available.
We did very well on the counter attack and we created a chance very early but unfortunately the shot was not on target.
We did not hold onto the ball long enough when we had possession because Sweden was putting high-pressure on our players when they had the ball. We didn’t protect the ball as much and we did not inter pass well with one another.
I think we went direct too many times and this is something we can work on. Well done for keeping the score line deadlocked until after the referees optional time and then they scored in the only way that they could possibly get a goal – aerial route.
Under the circumstances we defended the high balls very well. The few chances we had we could have done better if we saw the free player in the box.
This happened on about three occasions where we could’ve had an opportunity to score but the lack of vision and decision-making is something that as a nation we are lacking.
Unfortunately Sweden had a good plan to box in Kaylin Swart and made it difficult for her to get to the ball because they put three players around the keeper coupled with three of our players to mark them.
This meant that there were about 5 to 6 players every time in the way for Kaylin to get to the ball and this was done deliberately so it was very difficult for her to get to any ball played into the box from a corner or dead ball.
Our lack of height at the back made it difficult to keep their tall players out all the time.
We can be proud of the way Banyana performed and I think the coach was spot on with the tactics that she employed.
Unfortunately there’s always room for improvement and there’s nothing that she can do with individual performances on the day.
We must just keep our heads up higj and play the way that will suit us, a way that will give us an opportunity to get points from Argentina on Friday and Italy the following Wednesday.
In my opinion maybe a few fresh legs at the right moment or some subs to manage the game in a situation like that but otherwise a great performance from us.
Any other tactics could have resulted in us losing with big numbers like Morocco did.
My realistic prediction however is Argentina to win by 2-1.
