"There's still a gap between the top nations but it's slowly closing"

The head coach of the South Africa women's team assesses her country's chances ahead of the upcoming World Cup in Australia and New Zealand

- Mark Gleeson

DESIREE ELLIS

"What are Africa’s chances of causing a shock at the Women’s World Cup in the same way that Morocco shook up Qatar?

I think Morocco have shown it is possible. We’re going to a second World Cup, you have Nigeria who have been ever-present and we have Morocco who have done fantastically with a women’s programme. Zambia always surprise; you look at what they did at the Olympics, even though they didn’t get through to the next round, but they surprised a few.

Football is now not about the rankings anymore. It’s about what happens on the field. Our team, for example, is four years older, more mature, we have a couple of players playing at good clubs in Europe, and we are coming off the WAFCON [Women’s Africa Cup of Nations] victory.

There’s a little bit more pressure now after doing well at WAFCON. I think it’s possible to get out the group stage. We can’t be naive, though; the groups are tough. But I think Morocco showed, when they were not given a chance in their group in Qatar, that it’s possible. They not only went through, but they almost won the World Cup. You’ve got to make sure that you are in peak physical condition and that everybody executes the plans. If you can get a positive result in your first game, then you plan further.

I don’t think we must undermine ourselves as a continent, because we have tremendous talent. We must just make sure that everything leading up to that works out properly. I think there could be a few surprises, not just with the teams from Africa but elsewhere too. Already there were many upsets in the qualifiers and particularly the play-offs.