by Benjamin Nyirenda
Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis has continued to sing the praises of her players, calling them “incredible and special”. Ellis’ comments come after she and the national women’s football team, Banyana Banyana, were crowned Africa’s greats on Sunday, they beat Morocco in the final of the Women African Nations Cup, WAFCON in a thrilling match played in Morocco.
Ellis revealed that before the team left for the tournament, she asked the players what their objectives were and their response was to win the WAFCON.
“I told them that we should aim for qualifying for the World Cup and they said that winning the WAFCON means that they have qualified for the World Cup. They were so confident. During the tournament we faced a number of challenges,” she said.
“Thembi kept on encouraging us and the South African Football Association came through for us big time. When many people thought we are down and out this team kept on fighting. Our president Danny Jordan has always told us to bring home to the people, ” added Ellis.
“I know you were going through Load shedding and some of you might not seen the game but we felt the love. We felt the support and we felt the prayers. And when we walked. A day before we were reminded of 2015 in Equatorial Guinea and that encouraged us to work hard on the day of the game, ” she concluded.