Bernadette Amani: From Dougbafla to Bayern Munich and WAFCON 2026
Bernadette Amani’s long road to the top of Europe’s game began with barefoot kickabouts in a village in Ivory Coast. It now runs through Munich, through Bundesliga title celebrations, through a German Cup triumph – and, this month, back to Africa, where she leads her country into a tournament they almost missed.
Seven months after signing for Bayern Munich, the 28-year-old midfielder sounds exactly like someone who has landed where she always felt she belonged.
"It's a dream come true for me to be here, and I'm living my dream to the full," she said in an exclusive interview with DW shortly before the Women's Africa Cup of Nations kicked off in Morocco.
Bayern, she knows, is a different universe.
"Munich is a very, very big club. Beyond just making me happy, it's a real achievement, a dream come true to be here, to play for such a prestigious club."
From Tenerife to the Bayern machine
Amani arrived in Germany from CD Tenerife Femenino in Spain’s Liga F, already a professional, already hardened by the grind of European football. Yet the jump to Bayern has felt like stepping onto a higher floor of the same building.
"I was already professional when I was in Spain, but let's just say it wasn't quite the same level of professionalism," she explained.
In Spain or back home in Ivory Coast, she was used to lean backroom teams.
"In Spain or the Ivory Coast, the coaching staff might have consisted of no more than five or six people. But here there are eight or 10 people. And that enables them (the players) to perform at that high level for a long time."
The difference is structural and relentless. More staff. More detail. More demands. Drop into that as a new signing and you either sink or you grow.
For Amani, it has been the latter.
"I've learned a great deal about aspects I wasn't already aware of; how to position myself, how to position my body, how to interact with the ball and how to think. Really understanding the game is something I'm gradually learning alongside (the players) and the coaching staff."
In half a season, she has collected a Bundesliga medal and lifted the German Cup. Yet the way she talks about Bayern, the trophies almost sound like a byproduct of the daily grind she has stepped into.
From Dougbafla to Abidjan – and a revelation
None of this felt remotely possible when she was a girl in Dougbafla, playing with boys and being told by her parents to think about school, not football. They wanted a degree, not a dream.
So she left the village for Abidjan to continue her education. That decision, made for the classroom, opened the door to the pitch.
"I discovered the women's football league. I went to a match and, as luck would have it, it was the top team against the second-placed team," she recalled.
What she saw that day in 2019 changed everything.
"I saw the intensity, I saw the technique, and then I heard that so-and-so isn't here today because she's playing in Serbia, another isn't here today because she's playing in Turkey. And that was a real eye-opener for me; it made me realize that I could make a living from what I love."
One of the teams on the pitch, Onze Soeurs de Gagnoa, invited her for a trial. She took it. She passed. Within a year she had crossed continents, landing in Spain’s third tier. Five years on, she was in Liga F with Eibar, then on to Tenerife, where her performances drew Bayern’s attention.
She calls Bayern "the top." Not the end.
"Someone on the outside will say to you: 'You've put in the effort, you've made it to Bayern, a club that wins titles, that's professional and renowned all over the world," she said.
"But someone who's involved in football will tell you that's where the hard part begins. Staying there is even better. And it's hard not to let your guard down."
The message is clear: arriving in Munich is a milestone; surviving there is the real exam.
Captain of a returning force
For now, though, the Bayern training ground gives way to national colours. Amani has swapped red for orange, taking the armband as captain of Ivory Coast at WAFCON 2026.
The tournament, expanded late from 12 to 16 teams, handed Ivory Coast one of the final spots and with it a return to the continental stage after 12 years away.
"The target that has been set for us is, of course, to do no worse than we did at the last Africa Cup of Nations we took part in — that is, to finish third," she said.
That 2014 run to third place came with a different squad profile. This time, Ivory Coast arrive with more players spread across Europe’s top leagues, but also with a core that is untested at this level.
Almost half the current group are about to taste WAFCON for the first time. Amani does not ignore that reality. She leans into it.
"We're going to focus on our own game, and we know that we've got qualities that could give (our opponents) a run for their money," she said.
On Monday in Casablanca, those words had weight. The Lady Elephants tore through Burkina Faso, winning 4-1 to take early control of Group B. It was not just a statement; it was a release after more than a decade away from this stage.
The real measure comes next.
Their second match, on Friday against South Africa, brings the reigning continental power, ranked second in Africa, and a very different kind of contest. South Africa’s shock 2-1 defeat to Tanzania in their opener has cracked the group wide open, but also sharpened the edge: wounded favourites are rarely gentle opponents.
For Amani, this is the kind of pressure she has been training under in Munich – the kind that exposes flaws and reveals leaders. She has already climbed from Dougbafla’s dusty pitches to the precision of Bayern’s training complex. Now the question is whether she can drag Ivory Coast back among Africa’s elite and keep them there, just as she plans to do with her own place at the top.
