Banyana Banyana head coach Desiree Ellis admits all the recent praise received won’t matter if they fail to win the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations on Saturday.
Ellis, who won a third CAF Women’s Coach of the Year award on Thursday evening in Rabat will lead her charges against hosts Morocco, in what is expected to be a record attendance in Women’s African football history, just days after the record was broken in the semi-final against Nigeria with 45,562 fans.
South Africa are unbeaten towards the final and have only conceded two goals in their five games but the near misses of the past and the home crowd are the potential Achilles heel that awaits them.
Amidst the wait for the highly anticipated final, Ellis thanked local coaches for their support and the likes of Pitso Mosimane who told iDiski Times that Banyana has become the flagbearer for South African football.
“The support that we get from the PSL coaches is overwhelming, it shows that we’re on the right track, it shows that the work the players and SAFA have put in, we’re on the right track but it will mean nothing if you don’t get that gold medal,” Ellis said in the pre-match press conference.
“Everything we do is geared towards tomorrow, we know it’s going to be a difficult match – no matches in the knockout stages are easy, especially the final but we’re ready for every eventuality.
“I said from the beginning we selected a squad that’s versatile, that’s ready for the eventuality, we’ve had some challenges leading up to some of our games and the team was ready. So we thank coach Pitso and everyone else for the support they’ve given us.
“He’s been here, he’s done it all, he’s someone that we follow because he has led the way, he’s someone that we look up to and we chat often, so we appreciate that and we’ll do our level best tomorrow.”
While Morocco coach Reynald Pedros said reaching the final is already a success for their national team moments prior to Banyan’s press conference, there was a different narrative for their opposition.
Ellis stated they know the magnitude of the fixture and captain Refiloe Jane opened up on the near misses, with South Africa having lost finals in 2000, 2008, 2012 and the last edition in 2018.
“Winning the tournament will mean a lot to all the players who have played for the team, even before and the ones who came before us,” Jane said confidently.
“We know how close they’ve come before and we feel like there’s no better time than right now. We’ll do our utmost best to go all the way to clinch it.”
South Africa take on Morocco at the Prince Moulay Abdallah Stadium on Saturday evening at 22h00 for the most coveted honour in women’s football on the continent.
