Desiree Ellis remains committed to Banyana Banyana despite Wafcon struggles

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis says she’ll continue to ‘trust the process’ as her team turns over a new chapter after an underwhelming continental outing.

Banyana are set to finish fourth at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations finals which is set to conclude Sunday night after relinquishing their crown.

After getting out of the group stage comfortably,  they were not convincing in the knockout stage as they beat Senegal on penalties in the quarter–final and lost 2-1 to arch-rivals Nigeria in the semi-final.

Banyana were not at their best in the third/fourth place play-offs either as they lost to Ghana 4-3 on penalties after the match ended 1-1 in regulation time Friday night.

Their shortcomings in the crucial stages of the tournament somewhat hinted at the toll the team took prior to the tournament following another bonus row with Safa.

Ellis said they were at the tournament to win it during her post-match press conference at Stade El Arbi Zaouli in Casablanca though.

“Everyone that goes to a tournament has the ambition of winning it - Nigeria have been the only country that has defended it, though they didn’t at times,” Ellis said.

“Equatorial Guinea won it twice, but we didn’t get there - but it was so, so close. I think what happened there (against Nigeria) took a lot out of the players.

“We knew that we were going to play in the play-offs match, but we unfortunately didn’t do well today.”

Banyana’s shortcomings in Morocco have seen some members of the football fraternity call for Ellis to be released, citing that she’s out of sorts.

This is due to the fact that the team needs a new direction and strategy given that some key players have already called time on their international careers, while others are close to.

Jermaine Seoposenwe retired from international football after Wafcon, saying she’s taking care of her well-being, while Thembi Kgatlana withdrew from being considered for the event, citing personal reasons.

Ellis, though, insists that she’s still the right coach to usher Banyana to a new era having been the brains behind Banyana’s first qualification for the World Cup in 2019 and triumph at Wafcon in 2022.

“I have been with the team since 2014 as an assistant, 2016 as an acting coach and 2018 as the head coach - so it’s a process,” Ellis reflected.

“Unfortunately, the process is always to win. That is the thing with fans, they don’t see the bigger picture. So, we trust the process.

“We are also a team in transition. We trust the process, but fans don’t trust the process - all they want is results. 

“They don’t see what you are doing and how the team is evolving, they don’t see those things. When you are in the national team, fans want results.”

Ellis says they’ll continue to do what they think is best for the team in order to take it back to the top of African football during next year’s Wafcon which will also serve as qualifiers for the 2027 World Cup.

“Sometimes,  we are going to give it to them, but we are not going to compromise who we are, what we are doing and the process,” Ellis asserted

“We’ve been in similar situations in 2019 - went to the World Cup and lost in the first round to Botswana in the qualifier and we took that and built on it.

“We went to the Aisha Buhari Cup, and that was the biggest prize for everyone. We went to the Wafcon and World Cup. There’s a process and we trust it.

“Like you said, everyone wants my head. I said it the other day, “when the team does well, everyone gets credit, but when it doesn’t, the coach is on the red carpet”.”