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- Desiree Ellis wants Banyana Banyana goalkeeper Kaylin Swart's World Cup campaign to be remembered for how well she played, not for her mistakes.
- Swart fumbled a relatively easy strike from Lineth Beerensteyn, which rolled into the back of the net on Sunday.
- Ellis believes there are no underdog nations at the FIFA Women's World Cup.
Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis jumped to the defence of goalkeeper Kaylin Swart once more after a costly error during their 2-0 defeat to the Netherlands in the FIFA Women's World Cup round of 16 clash on Sunday.
The goalkeeper selection has been the subject of hot debate as Ellis continued to select Swart ahead of Andile Dlamini, named best goalkeeper at last year's Africa Cup of Nations, throughout the World Cup campaign.
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The 28-year-old Swart has been backed by Ellis throughout the tournament, despite calls for her to be replaced by Dlamini.
Swart had one of her better matches between the posts for South Africa in Sydney on Sunday, but it was one moment that would change the face of the game in the second half.
The Netherlands were already leading courtesy of a Jill Roord goal when Swart found herself in the spotlight again.
The shot-stopper fumbled an easy-looking Lineth Beerensteyn strike which rolled over the goal line as the Netherlands secured their ticket to the quarter-final.
"I think our goalkeeper had a fantastic game up until, you know, that moment," said Ellis, who was beaming with pride despite the heartbreaking defeat.
"I hope people remember her for how well she played and not that one incident.
"We had a lot of opportunities, especially in the first half to, as they say, kill off the game because we knew the quality side that the Netherlands are."
Ellis added: "But in the end, the legs just weren't there anymore for us to keep pushing for the duration of the game.
"I said that they are going to be in a game and they are going to know that we are here and they spoke about underdogs yesterday.
"I don't think there's any more underdogs in this World Cup because a decision or a goal here or there, we could have been speaking differently now."
Banyana had to play without their captain, Refiloe Jane, and also lost Jermaine Seoposenwe and Bambanani Mbane to injuries within 40 minutes of the first half.
Ellis, who made no excuses for the result, feels that the incidents did affect how they wanted to play the rest of the game.
"We're just proud - disappointed, of course - but really proud of the group of players. Losing Bamba and Jermaine in the first half also didn't help the way we set up," said Ellis.
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"They're very instrumental in the way we play, you know, especially Jermaine with what she brings to the team.
"Even after that, we still had chances. We had a couple of chances that we could have taken.
"Injuries are an unfortunate part of sport, where you get, we might pick up an injury but I thought the players that came in acquitted themselves really well.
"We've brought a squad of 23 players and the other players who came in - I thought they did really, really well."
