Banyana Banyana Coach Desiree Ellis Joins SA to Welcome Bafana Bafana Home at OR Tambo International

Banyana Banyana Coach Desiree Ellis Joins SA to Welcome Bafana Bafana Home at OR Tambo International

  • Desiree Ellis joined the rest of the country as they welcomed Bafana Bafana back home
  • The Banyana Banyana coach stood at the OR Tambo International Airport to welcome the boys after their AFCON 2023 tournaments
  • Coach Ellis told Briefly News about Banyana's preparations for the CAF Women's Olympic qualifiers
Desiree Ellis welcomed Bafana Bafana back at OR Tambo International Airport
Desiree Ellis was among the South Africans at OR Tambo International Airport to welcome Bafana Bafana back home. Images: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images and Instagram/ sundownsfc
Source: UGC

Banyana Banyana coach Desiree Ellis made an appearance at Bafana Bafana's homecoming to welcome the national team home with the rest of South Africa.

The WAFCON champion was spotted among the crowd at OR Tambo International Airport waiting for Bafana's return after making the country proud during their AFCON matches.

Desiree Ellis welcomes Bafana Bafana home

The OR Tambo International Airport swarmed with Bafana Bafana supporters who couldn't wait to welcome the national team home.

Read also

Mama Joy returns with Bafana Bafana's AFCON trophy, SA celebrates: "You represented us well"

PAY ATTENTION: Let yourself be inspired by real people who go beyond the ordinary! Subscribe and watch our new shows on Briefly TV Life now!

Like the Springboks' homecoming, Bafana received a king's welcome from their loyal supporters and among them was Desiree Ellis, who is preparing for the CAF Women's Olympic qualifiers.

Speaking to Briefly News, the Banyana Banyana coach said training has been going well and admired her team's dedication:

"We had a camp on Monday. A very big thank you to the clubs who had started pre-season; the players are much farther than where we thought they would be.
"Some even have personal trainers, which shows that the players are investing in themselves. Training has gone really well, I'm impressed, we've gotten better."

Ellis told the publication that reaching the last 16 was a huge deal:

"Being the first senior South African national team to get out of the group stages was huge. I think it's still far away from the qualifiers, but it shows what this team is capable of.

Read also

Bafana Bafana defender Terrence Mashego's family spotted at OR Tambo International Airport

"It shows the quality that we have in this team. It shows the mentality and effort that we need to do well in the qualifiers."

In a photo posted by Twitter (X) user KayaNews, Ellis was among the supporters waiting for the national team to arrive:

Mzansi reacts to Desiree Ellis' appearance

Netizens showed love to Desiree and cheered her on:

PJ_CPT_ praised Desiree:

"The lady that won us that WAFCON!"

@bubblesIdyan cheered her on:

"Current WAFCON champion!"

EugeniaKulaAmey said:

"Leadership, I salute you."

Meanwhile, some netizens threw some shade at Desiree:

AndileSiso94 assumed:

"It looks like she regrets being there."

MindofBkay threw shade:

"She had a chance to win the women's world cup but chose a stay-at-home mom for a goalkeeper. I hope she sees what choosing the right goalkeeper can do for you."

EazyMohapi said:

"She's like 'It's not make sure, man.' "

Read also

Bafana Bafana player Grant Kekana buzzed with excitement, awaiting Julius Malema's welcome

Makhadzi congratulates Bafana Bafana

In an earlier report, Briefly News caught online reactions to Makhadzi's message to Bafana Bafana.

The Sugar Sugar hitmaker praised the national team's efforts in the AFCON 2023 semi-finals despite their loss to Nigeria, but her English let her down and didn't make it to the party - eish:

saints_chango said:

"In her defence, she once mentioned on IG Live that her English is not that good."

PAY ATTENTION: Сheck out news that is picked exactly for YOU - click on “Recommended for you” and enjoy!

Source: Briefly News

Authors:
Moroba Moroeng avatar

Moroba Moroeng (Entertainment editor) Moroba Moroeng is an entertainment writer at Briefly News and a University of Johannesburg alumni (Public Relations and Communications, 2018). She was the content manager and, later, editor for HipHop Africa, where she honed her proofreading, leadership, and content management skills. Having begun her career as a content writer for Slikour OnLife, Moroba has over four years of experience as a writer specialising in music journalism and entertainment. She joined Briefly News in 2023 and passed a set of training courses by the Google News Initiative. Email: moroba.moroeng@briefly.co.za