WAFCON: How South Africa plotted the dethronement of Nigeria as African Champions

By 

Harry Awurumibe

 

It took two years and six months for South Africa Football Association (SAFA) to plot the dethronement of 9-time African Champions and defending champions of the just concluded 12th CAF Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) tagged Morocco 2022.

After several years of being in the shadow of Nigeria by suffering many defeats, especially in the final of Africa’s biggest women’s football championship, with the most recent being the 4-3 penalty shoot-out loss to Nigeria in 2018 WAFCON in Ghana, SAFA went back home to restrategize for the next edition which ended in a victory last Saturday in Rabat, Morocco.

 

South Africa have never won the continental title before but have reached the final on five occasions- 1995, 2000, 2008, 2012 and 2018- and have been defeated by Nigeria on three occasions.

The Rainbow Nation has invested massively in the development and promotion of women’s football from the grassroots, schools and the leagues with huge financial backing from corporate bodies and the federal government.

But part of SAFA’s strategies to see South Africa win the WAFCON trophy in the shortest time was a massive financial incentive to the national senior women’s football team, Banyana Banyana especially the bumper package promised to the team by SAFA President, Danny Jordaan before the team left South Africa for Morocco.

Jordaan had announced at the Send-off event organised for the team in Johannesburg that they will receive a whopping R400,000 equivalent to $25,000 each if they win the 2022 WAFCON in Morocco.

The South Africa FA had handed out the big incentive to act as motivation to the squad ahead of the continental event in Morocco and it was clear that the bumper reward energised the players into approaching the tournament with all seriousness it deserved.

“We are going to pay R9.2 million ($578,000) in bonuses for this team, on the basis that they win the (Women’s) AFCON,” Safa president Danny Jordan said at the event.

He added: “So, if they win AFCON

we will pay R9.2 million ($578,000) and if you look at the other cost in other words our investment in this team for specifically this AFCON is R10 million ($628,330).”

South African coach Desire Ellis

“This is our commitment, our confidence in Banyana Banyana and let me just tell you this, R10 million is the highest-paid amount ever paid in the national team, men and women, so you have broken the barriers, you have the highest amount paid for any national team in the history of South African football.”

Responding on behalf of her team, Banyana Banyana captain Refiloe Jane promised that the team felt that they are now prepared and well-motivated to go one better by winning the elusive WAFCON trophy in Morocco.

Said she: “For you (Jordaan) to come and honour us, give this promise it’s the kind of the motivation to the team and I know besides that motivation of wanting to receive the money, we also want to go out there and represent our nation with pride.

“We know that we [are] representing not only ourselves but our families, our friends and other players who are playing in the leagues and the upcoming players who want to see themselves playing for Banyana Banyana one day.”

For this reason, the Banyana Banyana who were in Group C alongside record champions and cup holders-Nigeria, Botswana and Burundi actually saw the cash incentive as an extra motivation ahead of their first match against the Super Falcons on July 4 which they won 2-1.

South Africa was to go on to win all her five other matches, hitting Burundi 3-1 and Botswana 1-0 in the group stage while the country eliminated Tunisia in the quarter final; defeated Zambia 1-0 in the semi final match and beat Morocco 2-1 In the epic final on July 23 to lift the trophy for the first time.

The Banyana Banyana have since returned to a hero’s welcome to South Africa with the WAFCON trophy surrendered by Nigeria after Super Falcons were defeated by Morocco at the semi final stage after a 5-4 penalty shoot-out drama.

Indeed, the South Africans were prepared to get well-deserved revenge against Nigeria and they did it in grand style in Morocco even as they went further by sweeping the stakes in WAFCON individual awards.

South Africa’s Head Coach Desiree Ellis, her team and players dominated all the awards on display with veteran women’s football team coach winning the WAFCON trophy and African Coach of the Year (Women) title for the third time in the 2022 CAF Awards held at Morocco’s impressive Mohamed VI Technical Centre in Sale, Rabat and attended by a gathering of Africa’s top football personalities and football stars.

Coach Ellis proved her technical and tactical superiority over all other women’s football coaches in Africa in Morocco hence she was able to defeat her rivals in all the six matches to lift the trophy.

Only Asisat Oshoala who won the CAF Women’s Players of the Year Award for the fifth time received an individual award in Morocco as South Africa made a clean sweep of both the CAF Awards and WAFCON Awards.