South Africa defeated COSAFA rivals Botswana 2-0 in a hard-fought international friendly match played in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

The victory followed a 3-1 success over Zambia on Saturday and completes a satisfactory few days for coach Des Ellis.

Goals from former CAF Women’s Footballer of the Year Thembi Kgatlana and Gabriela Salgado in the second half sealed the win for Banyana Banyana, who created numerous opportunities.

“I’m happy with the two results but not so happy with the performance,” Ellis says. “But the players coming from a long break, we knew it would challenge us physically. But the national league will start soon and they will get more time to fine-tune.

“We will also be able to scout then because we haven’t seen them play for a year. That will help us going forward into the Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.”