A clear vision will help Ellis secure her job
A BRONZE medal at the 2016 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations might not mean anything like it will at the next edition, but it could secure the future of Banyana Banyana interim coach Desiree Ellis.
A third-place finish would be better than the fourth place that Banyana achieved in 2014 under former coach Vera Pauw.
Despite it being the country’s worst-ever finish at the tournament, Safa renewed Pauw’s contract.
A case for retaining her services was made easy by the fact that the Olympics qualifiers started in 2015.
She repaid that faith by guiding the national team to the Olympics in Brazil. Ellis, however, is in a different situation.
The rebuilding phase for the next four-year Olympic cycle begins after this continental tournament.
Only a clear vision for the future would help Ellis secure a permanent contract. She has shown glimpses of what she can do as a coach with a more attack-minded Banyana team.
But she has lacked bravery to get rid of some ineffective players who have passed their sell-by date. If Ellis continues, she will need to be brave – not only in her selection, but in her approach to the game.
This afternoon would be a perfect time to start, with what could be an important bronze medal up for grabs against Ghana in Yaounde in the third-place playoff (4.30pm kickoff).
“I have only been the Banyana coach since the 16th of October, which isn’t a very long time,” Ellis said. “We wanted to implement a few things in this tournament. I hope that everybody saw what is it that we wanted to do.
“I am only the interim coach for now. The powers that be back home have to decide what happens after this tournament. But if given the opportunity, I would grab it with both hands.
“There are a lot of players back home from our Under-20s and those who went to the Under-17 World Cup in 2010. There are a lot of good young players who we didn’t bring to this tournament because the aim was to win it. That’s why we brought plenty of experienced players and some youth.
“Hopefully in the next year or so the team will evolve and more players will be part of the set-up. We are looking forward to the 2018 AWC, after the third-place playoff, because that is the big one.”
A top-three finish at Awcon 2018 in Ghana will guarantee a place at the 2019 World Cup in France. Finishing third today would be a psychological boost for the Black Queens or Banyana. It would also soothe the disappointment of not reaching the final, which will be contested by Cameroon and Nigeria tomorrow.
“It’s not all over,” Ghana coach Yusif Basigi said. “Even though my dream of winning this trophy is over, we still have pride to play for. That’s why we don’t want to finish fourth. I just have to consolidate my ambition now that we won’t be returning home as champions.”