ELLIS HAS UNFINISHED BUSINESS AT AFCON
Banyana coach can at last get gold
DURING her playing days as Banyana Banyana captain, Desiree Ellis failed to win the Women’s African Cup of Nations but she’s now hoping to make amends as a coach.
Ellis, who is in charge of the team on a caretaker basis, is hoping to bring home the trophy from Cameroon, where this year’s tournament is taking place from tomorrow.
The former midfielder – who wore the armband from 1994 until her retirement in 2002, at the age of 38 – won two Afcon silver medals, in 1995 and 2000.
“I was a runner-up twice as a player and it would be fantastic to win it [as a coach],” Ellis said this week. “I’m excited and nervous.
“The work is a million times more [demanding] but once you have done your coaching there is nothing more you can do when the players go to the field. At the end of the day you have to trust them on the field because they are all capable of doing the job.”
In her two games in charge since she replaced Vera Pauw after the Rio Olympics in August, Ellis gave as many players as possible an opportunity, particularly in the 3-0 win over Zimbabwe in a friendly recently.
“We made a lot of changes to give other players an opportunity and also for players to raise their hands because you never know what you can expect in a tournament. If you play your first 11 [in a friendly] and don’t give others a chance, then someone gets injured and you would expect someone else to come in and do well,” Ellis explained. “So we also wanted to build that trust and togetherness. We took Janine [van Wyk] off against Zimbabwe and we wanted to be in a situation that it doesn’t matter who plays. Anyone can do the job.”
Interestingly, Banyana’s first Afcon match will be against Zimbabwe tomorrow (7.30pm).
“There are no easy teams anymore. Who would have expected Zimbabwe to beat Cameroon and go to the [Rio] Olympics? So we are not going to underestimate anyone,” Ellis cautioned.