Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis claimed a record fourth straight accolade at the 2023 CAF Awards held in Marrakesh, Morocco on Monday evening.
Ellis continued her dominance in the category for CAF Coach of the Year (Women), taking home the prize for the fourth time running after 2018, 2019 and 2022. [Ed’s note: CAF Awards were not held during the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
The 60-year-old mentor beat coutryman and Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies coach Jerry Tshabalala and Morocco women’s national team coach Reynald Pedros to the prize.
This comes after she led Banyana to a historic Round of 16 finish at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, after which they climbed an impressive nine places from 54th to 45th in the FIFA World Rankings.
No other women’s football coach has won the award since its inception in 2018. Meanwhile, Bafana Bafana forward Percy Tau was crowned CAF Inter-club Player of the Year (Men) following his exceptional showing with Egyptian giants Al Ahly.
It was not all for South Africa as Sundowns Ladies also bagged the honours for CAF Club of the Year (Women) following their recent triumph in the Women’s Champions League – becoming the first club to win the competition twice after doing so in 2021.
Further recognition came the way of Andile Dlamini (goalkeeper), Bambanani Mbane (defender), Lebohang Ramalepe (defender), Linda Motlhlalo (midfielder), and Refiloe Jane (midfielder), who were all named in the FIFPro Africa Best XI (Women).
(story credit: SABC Sport)
