Soccer
Tactics key for Banyana
2012-05-16 16:12
Potchefstroom - Banyana Banyana head coach Joseph Mkhonza says tactics will be the key to advancing to the knockout phases of the Olympic games.
"When we go to the Olympics, tactics are going to be the order of the day," said Mkhonza in Potchefstroom, where his side has been training ahead of a friendly match against Tanzania in Dar es Salaam on Sunday.
"We have analysed all the opponents we are going to face. We are preparing game by game, and we are going to plan our tactics according to our opponents.
"Our first opponents are Sweden, then Canada and after that, Japan. We know at the Olympics tactics are going to be the order of the day, so we need to be up there with them, because these [teams] are the best in the world."
The majority of the squad has been training together, but a number of overseas members have yet to join the camp.
"At the moment, we want to give all the girls a fair chance. We are waiting for all our overseas players to come because we rely on them, but we must make sure they are in good condition," said the coach.
After the friendly against Tanzania, they will compete in the African Women's Championship (AWC) before the Olympics, where the coach will be looking to make his final decision on the team to take to the quadrennial-showpiece.
"Playing Tanzania is preparation for the AWC. The games we have are sufficient; we don't want the players to get burnt out playing too many games, so that when we reach the Olympics we are tired.
"We will wait until, maybe, the end of this month to make sure we give the injured players a chance to find where they are in terms of recovery."
The coach said there were a number of areas where Banyana needed to improve.
"In the games we played we realised we have shortcomings in goal scoring, and we want to address that. The other [problem] is tactical behaviour. We have to be very tactical, all the players, at the same time."