Benni – Desiree Is The Queen Of Hanover Park

Bafana Bafana legend Benni McCarthy, who just joined the coaching staff of Manchester United, has paid tribute to Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis, hailing her as the ‘Queen of Hanover Park’.

The former Cape Town City and AmaZulu head coach was unveiled by United on Saturday.

For years Benni McCarthy has been the unofficial King of Hanover Park. The Bafana Bafana legend, South Africa’s most successful footballer in history, achieved so much in his playing career and is loved by all in the neighbourhood he grew up in.

But McCarthy has vacated the throne. By his own decree, there is a new ruler and that is Banyana Banyana Head Coach Desiree Ellis, after she led Banyana Banyana to the 2022 WAFCON trophy.

Coincidentally someone else who hails from Hanover Park, is Vicky Sampson, the singer famous for the ‘African Dream’ song, and that is exactly what Ellis achieved this past weekend. 

Hanover Park is a hard place. It’s one of the roughest neighbourhoods in the Western Cape, gangsterism and crime are rife. It can be a depressing place to grow up in, it’s also dry, cement and sand dominate the area. But despite there not having much green in sight, there seems to be something in the water there that creates football legends.

“What’s in the water? Hunger. Desire. Ambition. Passion,” McCarthy tells iDiski Times. 

“All that, you’ll find there, because we are stripped from those opportunities, and nothing comes easy, only hardship, that’s what we are accustomed to.”

McCarthy knows that football gave them opportunities, but it was those inner qualities that keeps pushing them to push further.

“So when you out there, you sharpen your skills, and you say, when the opportunity comes, you’re gonna show that everlasting hunger,” he continued.

“And you don’t just rest on your laurels, that when you get the opportunity, you think that’s all you needed, or that’s all you wanted.

“No. You continue to show the same hunger throughout your career, throughout your life! Because that way, it will never make you stop and confirm with just being happy to be where you are, to achieve just the small things you want. 

“You want bigger things, and so you always got to be hungry, you always gotta be willing to learn. And when you come from Hanover, Park, if you give an opportunity, that’s mainly the mindset of people there.”

An emotional McCarthy couldn’t hold back his joy for his ‘big sister’, Ellis, whom he grew up in front of, and the two future South African legends shared many conversations about their dreams back in the day.

“She knows now she’s the real king of Hanover Park. Yeah, she’s number one. Hanover Park has a woman king now, she’s the Queen!” McCarthy said laughing.

“All I know, now Des is number one,” he added. 

“Des and me, growing up in front of Des, and the ambition, whenever we were together, when we were younger, we used to talk about where we wanted to be.”

Both went on to become international players, and while McCarthy’s career would see him play club football across Europe, those opportunities weren’t around back then for South Africa’s women footballers in the nineties, and Ellis was already a lot older.

But after hanging up their boots, both players turned their hands to coaching. And their same passion and hunger have seen them progress.

“And to see her, this almost mirror image of what I’ve gone through,” McCarthy emoted.

“She’s doing it, not just on the playing field, but on the coaching side. 

“You know, she educates herself, she learns about the game, every day is a learning curve for Des.

“I’m so super proud. You know, like, honestly, like, it’s like, when you have your first baby, that excitement, when you play the Champions League final, that excitement, when you’re playing the World Cup, that excitement. 

“That’s the excitement that I have for Des, and where she’s come from, and what she’s achieved, and I’m beyond proud.”

McCarthy has always had ambitions to coach in Europe, and will now have his chance to prove himself at United, and he wants Ellis to have that same ambition.

“She’s only scratched the surface so far,” McCarthy enthused. 

“I think Desiree’s got the ability to go and be one of the first to go and coach in Europe because she’s that good! 

“She is that good, and I pray that that is her ambition that she wants to test herself at a much, much higher level and that one day she goes on and coaches one of the top teams in Europe or the top countries in Europe because that’s where she’s destined for. 

“But ja, I just want for her to enjoy this moment, let it sink in and not to get ahead of herself, and I know she won’t, but just to enjoy the moment. 

“Because she’s come a long way and not to enjoy this moment. So she has to enjoy it to the fullest. And then regroup, refocus, and then work towards the World Cup. 

“Because making new history, becoming the first African team, not just South African team, to be in and amongst the finals, or semi-finals of the World Cup… That would be mesmerising, that will be memorable. 

“And ja, so that’s where she needs to focus all the energy in getting South Africa to go to those lengths. But for now, she must just enjoy the moment and enjoy everything she’s achieved.”

The King has bowed. Long live the Queen.

You can read the original article as well much more in our Special Banyana Banyana Edition. The FREE digital version is available by clicking below. In this special edition, we celebrate the Queens of Africa while we also catch up with Happy Jele after his Orlando Pirates exit, and Dan Malesela after his arrival at Royal AM. Hear from Andile Dlamini, Refiloe Jane, Noko Matlou, Janine Van Wyk, Desiree Ellis, Shilene Booysen, Shaun Bartlett, Eric Tinkler and McCarthy as we react to Banyana’s historic triumph in Morocco.