Desiree Ellis praises courage and resilience as Banyana keep WAFCON hopes alive

South Africa started their WAFCON campaign with a shock 2-1 loss to Tanzania last Monday and were gunning for all three points against Cote d'Ivoire but found themselves two-goals down in the first half after a calm finish after 18 minutes from Grace Sery.

The Ivorians doubled their advantage as Sery netted her second goal of the game before the interval.

Banyana though showed remarkable resilience as Thembi Kgatlana and Hildah Magaia struck in the closing stages to earn a valuable point.

The result leaves the Ivorians in first place in Group B with four points from two games, and Banyana bottom of the standings with one point.

Ellis' team will need a positive result in their final group game with Burkina Faso, and hope that Ivory Coast can beat Tanzania, to stand any chance of making it to the last eight

"We're still in it," Ellis said after the draw.

"All we can do is try to do our job, win the match and score some goals, because that's all we can control and the other results are not up to us but if we do that then we give ourselves a chance.

"We're still in it but when I look at the group, it's now become a must win for everyone in the group so all we can do is win and wait for the final result in the match between Tanzania and the Ivory Coast.

"This team has shown the courage and the resilience and it's not just this game, even against Tanzania, we created opportunities towards the end and almost scored. Today we were unlucky as well in the end.

“How we played the second half is how we should be starting the game, right from the get-go we should go full throttle because that's what it's gonna take to get a result in the next game.”