Banyana’s Ellis – It’s been a long time coming

‘About time!’ seemed to be the main sentiment of Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis, who finally captured a first Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) title, as a player or coach, on Saturday against Morocco.

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Banyana were playing in their sixth WAFCON final, and after five runners-up finishes, were finally left with something to celebrate as Hildah Magaia’s brace sealed a 2-1 win over the host nation at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.

Ellis says the players were confident going into the clash against the Atlas Lionesses. The Banyana mentor revealed that she sat down with some of the senior players in the squad, and all they wanted was to win the Wafcon.

“It’s been a long time coming. I got a silver medal when I was a player in 2009 when we lost to Nigeria. A lot of coaches and players have tried before, but today (Saturday) was special,” said Ellis.

“When we walked out and I saw the crowd, it reminded me of back in 2015 when we went to Equatorial Guinea. Before we went to the stadium, we had a meeting and … I just knew something special was going to happen. I think we played really well, I said before that we are keeping the goals for the final. But, the goals were special.

“When we met in South Africa, I sat with the senior players. I asked … Jermaine (Seoposenwe) and she said the ambition is to win the Wafcon, I must not worry about qualifying for the World Cup, because they will qualify for the World Cup.”

Banyana already qualified for the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cup when they beat Tunisia in the quarterifnals.

“So, from the word go, they had this ambition (to win Wafcon), I said we can only do it when we are united, we can only do it when we are together. We started really well, we lost Gabriela Salgado before we even went to camp, but other players stood up,” she added.

Banyana also lost Thembi Kgatlana to a serious injury in the quarterfinals but Magaia stepped up when it mattered on Saturday.

She slotted in her first goal against Morocco in the 63^rd minute, brilliantly set up by Jermaine Seoposenwe, who had a fantastic tournament.

And Magaia was at it again just eight minutes later, well placed to capitalise on a defensive error and beat the Morocco goalkeeper, meaning a goal from Morocco’s Rosella Ayande in the 80^th minute proved only a consolation for the Atlas Lionesses.