Desiree Ellis: Banyana should stay true to team identity ahead of WAFCON

By Mpumi Manyisi
15th July 2026

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis says it is important for the team to maintain its identity as they aim for another successful Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) campaign.

Ellis is currently in camp with the Banyana preliminary squad, assessing her players ahead of naming the final squad for the tournament on Friday.

Speaking to SABC Sport, Ellis says remaining true to their style of play and focusing on their strengths will set the team apart from the rest in the competition.

"Look, we are a team that is possession-based because of our stature. We are also a team that plays on transition. If you analyze, almost half of our goals have come from transition. But we are a team that wants to play. We have learned, I think, in 2016 we played against Cameroon and we outplayed them in the first half, and in the second, they bullied us off the ball," said Ellis

"In 2018, COSAFA brought them to the COSAFA Cup and we played them in the final. When I saw that performance, they tried to bully us, but we stood up in that game. I said we are ready to go to WAFCON. We then qualified for the World Cup in 2019 and got to the WAFCON final. We were runners-up, and we will continue working on that because you cannot stop working on it."

"But you also have to work a lot more on your strengths. We 've worked a lot on set pieces; I think recently we haven't conceded much from set pieces. We've even scored one against Japan from a very unlikely source, Linda, with the header."

"So we've been working on a lot of things, and sometimes you can see it in the game, and sometimes you can't because it's a process, but we'll just analyze and take it one game at a time."

The 63-year-old insists Banyana will not abandon their philosophy, believing that staying true to their identity will be key to progressing beyond the group stages and competing successfully throughout the tournament.

Ellis also welcomed the tournament’s return to Morocco for a third successive edition, saying the team’s familiarity with the country and its conditions will work in their favour. She believes Banyana will have little difficulty adapting to the expected hot weather.