South African women’s national team coach, Desiree Ellis, who led Banyana Banyana to their first Women’s Africa Cup of Nations gold medal in 2022 and two World Cup qualifications (2019 and 2023), has stated that former Copper Queens coach Bruce Mwape has not received the recognition he deserves.
Mwape was let go last year after leading the team to the Olympics in Paris. This came after the Copper Queens were eliminated in the group stage without a point.
He also qualified the team for the 2024 WAFCON, which will be played from 5 to 26 July, 2025. However, he faced accusations of sexual misconduct over the last two years, which he denied.
The 65-year-old, who was the first and only Zambian coach to lead a senior national team to a world Cup and back-to-back Olympics, has been replaced by Nora Hauptle, a former Ghana Black Queens trainer.
Hauptle signed a three-year contract and has been given a target of winning the WAFCON this year.
In response to Zambia’s changes to their technical bench ahead of the WAFCON, Ellis stated that Mwape deserves recognition.
“I thought Bruce had done fantastic. I mean, I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. And I don’t think he is also getting the credit that he should,” Ellis told SABC Sports. “I think people can say whatever they want to say, but he’s gotten results back-to-back Olympics and World Cup. You know, he’s gotten that, and unfortunately, they want to take a different direction. But I take my hat off to him for the work that he has done, you know….. Hopefully, he can still add more value to Zambian football because for a coach to achieve all that, its not just someone that you pick up from the street. It’s someone who’s done extremely well and we all know with the limited resources we have, he’s done well. So I take my hat off to him.”
Ellis on coaching African women’s teams
Ellis, a four-time CAF Woman Coach of the Year, also sent a message to the coaches coming to Africa, saying women’s football on the continent is different from what they know where they are coming from.
“To the other countries that have employed coaches, it’s not easy working on the African continent. You know, things are not as smooth as they are where the European coaches come from. But hopefully, they can make a difference like coach Vera [Pauw] did [with South Africa]. She came here and really made a huge difference and we just carried on from there and everything that she’s put in place. So hopefully we can see the continent growing and we can see the continent getting better because I still believe that a women’s team on the continent is going to win the World Cup before the men’s team.”
