Head coach Desiree Ellis has delivered her assessment of Banyana Banyana's 2-0 victory over Ghana in their opening match of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations on Monday.
South Africa began the defence of their WAFCON title on the front foot with a 2-0 triumph against West African foes Ghana in their first group stage match at Honneur Stadium in Morocco.
READ | Banyana sink Ghana in Wafcon opener
Linda Motlhalo and Jermaine Seoposenwe scored in the first half to hand Ellis' charges a vital advantage.
Banyana were put against the ropes in the second stanza, but goalkeeper Andile Dlamini made several saves to deny the Black Queens any attempts at a comeback.
The result placed Banyana at the top of Group C, as Mali defeated Tanzania later on, on the same day.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, the head coach praised her squad's resilience and admitted some individual brilliance was needed.
"If you look at the game overall, I think it was even Stevens because Andile made a couple of great saves as well. I thought we handled their long balls well; we knew that would come from the left-hand side.
"In the midfield, I thought Linda controlled that part of the game well, but defensively, we were really sound.
"We always know we are going to create chances, and we always said if we can keep a clean sheet, we can win the game. Today, our whole team played defensively really well.
READ | BIG CATCH: Soweto giants land Appollis!
"I think we made changes at the right time and that really settled down the team.
"But take nothing away from Ghana, they are a quality side, because the first 15 minutes really could have changed the game if we conceded," shared Ellis.
Next up is a clash against bottom-placed Tanzania at the same venue on Friday.
