Desiree Ellis revels in her Banyana options as she picks a preliminary World Cup squad

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has partially revealed her cards with the latest edition of the Fifa Women’s World Cup on the horizon.

With a little more than a month left until the New Zealand/Australia-hosted showpiece (which starts on 20 July), Ellis has announced a 36-member preliminary squad which she will assess, before trimming it down for a final 23-player team — plus three reserves.

Ellis, who has previously spoken about her joy at having such a vast pool of players to choose from, labelled the selection of this tentative squad as one the toughest she’s had to make as a Banyana Banyana coach.  

“As a coach, you always say players must raise their hand and make it difficult. And it has been very difficult [selecting the preliminary squad]. Congratulations to the players that have made the squad,” Ellis said.

With the local Hollywoodbets Super League growing year by year since its inception in 2019, as well as some stars of the team starring for their respective clubs overseas, Ellis feels like a kid in a candy store.

“We are always saying players must raise their hands, and many of them have raised their hands. But this is the group of players that we think we can select from, and they have raised their hands,” Ellis said on the preliminary selections.

“We are going to do a final selection as well as announce the final 23, plus three. That is even going to be more difficult. But this is the group of players that we think will do the job for us,” she added. 

End of the road?

Banyana Banyana preliminary World Cup squad