We all have a story to tell

Tumi Gabonamong: Coach Des, it’s almost two months since Banyana B anyana clinched the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations. Belated congratulations, of course.

Desiree Ellis: Thank you, Tumi. I’m still, honestly, tryeverything ing to absorb since the celebrations died down a bit. It’s extremely difficult to describe the feeling. I still just want to pinch myself and wake up from what still feels like

a dream. I just got back from a FIFA Coaching Mentorship Programme in Costa Rica where I got to interact with coaches from Brazil, Canada, France, Portugal and USA. We spoke extensively on the challenges we face and how the game is changing. Look, (it was a) very challenging tournament with

lots of adversities, but we took it day by day and game by game. We ke pt rotating the squad here and there because we had to manage the load of the players throughout the tournament to make sure we had them fresh. We chose our squad for every eventuality. We had injuries and COVID-19 cases, and I must say SAFA were

fantastic how they came through for us with that. This was probably one of the most connected group of players that I’ve coached.

TG: Where would you say you won it against Morocco in the final?

DE: True mental strength. That’s it. I can tell you now, no matter what the crowd threw at my girls, they were ready. Five hours before the game, we saw on

social media how packed the stadium was already, but they were unfazed. They were insanely focused. When we went out of the dressing room for our pitch walk, the girls put out an electrifying atmosphere, singing and dancing. They were absolutely ready to conquer. I said to them we might not be able to get any word across to each other because of the noise, so they’ve got to make sure they help each other on the pitch, and that’s exactly what they did. We were in complete control of the game until we conceded. We dealt with their half-chances on the pitch well. We dealt with their crowd well. When I look back at the pictures from that night, I don’t think there’s a single player of ours who didn’t have a laser pointed at her face. When Morocco pulled a goal back, the resilience my girls showed was beyond amazing. Having a mental coach in camp helped us a lot because the girls showed absolute character.

TG: That said, what impact did the injury to one of your key cogs, Thembi Kgatlana, have on the team?

DE: Look, we don’t really differentiate between players, but no doubt,

Thembi’s a key member of our squad. Very key. It was a bit of a sombre mood, but Thembi made everyone understand that this happens to the best of them and made it clear to the ladies there’s still goals to be attained, that they can still go all the way and do it. She was our biggest cheerleader. You should have seen how she cheered on the team from the stands when we qualified for the World Cup. She was brilliant. Very positive-minded individual who took it upon her sleeves like the experienced campaigner she is. But as I said, we chose a squad for every possible situation, including injuries. And that’s not to say we hope anyone gets injured, but we were prepared for such eventualities. The ladies who stepped up to the plate were ready to play and show what they could do. Injuries happen to the best. I mean, look at Nigeria, they lost Asisat Oshoala early in the tournament to injury and it can disrupt a team’s plans heavily.

TG: You scored 10 goals and conceded three. However, we saw the team misfiring on a number of occasions throughout the tournament. Was that not worrying you?

DE:

Look, I’d have been worried if we were not creating anything because then you have an even bigger problem. We had six different scorers and that was a plus. We didn’t rely on one scorer and that’s the message Thembi tried to put across to the other girls when she got injured. The conversion rate will worry a bit, but it’s what you do ultimately that wins you the games. At the end of the day, whether you win 1-0 or 5-0, the result stays the same. If you look at the final, we had about three clear chances and we converted two. That’s the type of ratio you are looking at. I tell you what though, it’s not just here. If you go look at the stats of the Euros, the Copa America, the conversion rate is just as low. It’s a work in progress, but it’s not just up to the national teams. It’s up to the players to go back and put in the work. It’s up to their clubs because they play a huge role in what we do at senior level. We’ve asked them to assist us and work on the players’ finishing. And by finishing I don’t mean passing the ball and laying it off and scoring because that’s just not realistic as everything happens 60% higher at the national team than at league football. They’ve got to practice their finishing under pressure and under high intensity. Composure isn’t something you can teach a player, but our players have got to go and work on that as well. Sometimes you just have to grind out a victory. Yes, we want to play the beautiful football, but that’s not always helpful. Remember 2018 when we played the best football in the tournament, but we ended up with a silver medal.

TG: Speaking of players’ teams, how often do you communicate with the clubs in our domestic league? Do you pay them regular visits?

After finishing as bridesmaids on five previous occasions, a resilient Banyana Banyana finally exorcised their Africa Women’s Cup of Nations ghosts when they clinched their first continental showpiece against the host nation, Morocco, in August. A true tale of blood, sweat and tears. Under the tutelage of coach Desiree Ellis, the glory was long coming as Mzansi’s women’s national team has shown grit and guile for a while now. Soccer Laduma’s Tumi Gabonamong caught up with the little gaffer with a big heart to reflect on the journey and World Cup preparations.

DE: We certainly interact every now and again. I had a webinar a while back with all the coaches and we spoke about our challenges and how they can help us. I go to games often and will chat to coaches after the final whistle. I just haven’t gone recently because I’ve been away, but I certainly engage with them often. I speak to players who are in the national team as well and point out certain areas they need to work on.

TG: It’s back-to-back World Cup appearances as you head out to New Zealand/Australia next year, this time as African champions. What lessons did you learn from your not-so-great first appearance?

DE: Listen, Nigeria were knocked out at the group stages, for the first time in 20 years, and they’d been to every World Cup. The expectations were very high from everyone, but we knew we were in a difficult group and it wasn’t going to be easy. We go back a lot more matured now. We have more players playing abroad now. Our local ones are also competitive and experienced now. We just need to get the mix right and make sure we take this time to prepare very well. We await the draw that’s coming up soon to see who we are up against and that’s when we can talk about what we want to do and how we will go about it. We always want to do better and the big one is if we can get out of the group stages. Big task, but that’s what we set out to do this time around.

TG: Talk to us about the recent friendlies against Brazil, where Banyana lost 3-0 and 6-0 respectively.

DE: First of all, at this level, you’ve got to make sure that you are concentrated and that you minimise your mistakes because they punish quickly. The minute you make a mistake, the ball is in the back of the net. The big difference also is the intensity that the Brazilians played at. The intensity of Wafcon is not as extreme and rigorous as the World Cup’s and that’s something some players are not used to. I’ve said it before, if you think this is it, then you are highly mistaken. Also, when we get opportunities like we did with Hilda’s (Magaia) and Noxolo (Cesane) when the score line was still 0-0 in the first game,

we’ve got to bury such chances. I said to the players they must be brave and play our game, but we didn’t really do that, we didn’t play the forward pass often enough and at times, when we got put under pressure, we lost a lot of ball possession. Overall, I’m glad we played games of this level this early because we have a lot to work on. The next game, we look for improvements, both as a team and individually, because there were a lot of individual errors against Brazil, more than anything.

TG: You have a friendly game against the 2023 Women’s World Cup hosts Australia in London next month. Why Australia?

DE: The thing is, we want to test ourselves. We want to make sure that we get the best possible preparation and playing the host nation, even though it’s outside their country, it will give us an idea of what we’ll be up against. It will afford us the opportunity to look at what we got wrong against Brazil and how we can fix that, how we can be better when transitioning and building up under pressure. Look, the World Cup is a completely different level to the Wafcon and we use these kind o f games to also test who we’ll take on our journey. The door is always open for every player and this will test their readiness for the World Cup level.

TG: The equal pay subject has since come up. Your thoughts on it? DE: Listen, that’s something I don’t want to get into. The president has said equal pay, the Minister of Sport has said equal pay. The players deserve what they deserve and they know what they deserve. And it’s not just in South Africa but worldwide too. Things are changing and hopefully things can get better for everyone on the African continent, not just for South Africa.

TG: For someone who’s gone from all the phases as a player when there was very little to seeing this happening now, it has been long coming, hasn’t it?

DE:

Look, the generations that come before obviously make things better for the next ones and I said winning Wafcon will give you a lot more clout and that’s what’s happened. This has completely changed not only the landscape of women’s football, but that of women in sports too. When the minister and president came out to say equal pay, it’s not just about football. We wait and see with the statement that’s been made, but like I said, the players know what they deserve. They are history makers. They negotiated for themselves what they wanted prior to the tournament and they deserve everything coming their way because they worked extremely hard.

TG: What does winning Wafcon mean for you, coach?

DE:

It’s bigger than me. I remember Amanda Dlamini saying to me, “Coach, it’s personal”, and she was right. This is for all of us who’ve tried before. I played in the 2000 final when we lost and we lost more finals after that one. We finally broke the duck and this victory was for every player and every coach who put in the sacrifices before. We all have a story to tell. The sacrifices I made to kickstart my coaching career make this victory worthwhile. Straight after the World Cup, I wasn’t working at that time and was confronted with some hard decisions. I had about four months left on my car, I had a bond to pay. I also wanted to go to the Netherlands for a UEFA B Coaching Licence course. Needless to say, I didn’t go then because had I done so, I would have lost my car and most probably my house too, as I wouldn’t have been able to payforthem.

“We’ve asked them to assist us and work on the players’ finishing.”

“I would have lost my car and most probably my house too…”

TG: What do you make of women’s football in 2022?

DE:

Tremendous growth. The games were very tight. We had four debutants in the tournament and no one, in any way, looked out of place. There weren’t any heavy score lines as we’ve seen previously. I believe after qualifying, everyone went all out and did their homework and prepared rigorously for the tournament. That’s why I said it over and over again that you underestimate a team at your own peril. Football on the continent is growing and if you don’t move with the times, you get left behind. Morocco weren’t in the final by fluke. They’ve invested in their game tremendously. You look at the COSAFA region, they had three participants in us, Botswana and Zambia. A lot of work is being put in and it shows. Look at Cameroon, they are going to the World Cup play-offs… we would never have thought of that happening and that goes to show you, teams are more competitive now. Rankings are there for a purpose, but it’s 11 versus 11 on the field. There are no small teams anymore and I look forward to what’s going to happen next.

TG: Well, coach Des, you and the ladies did it and we salute you. Thank you for your time and all the best.

DE: Alright, thank you, Tumi. ❐