03 Mar 2022

National women Under 17 football team will, on Sunday, face Tanzania in the African qualifier for FIFA Women’s World Cup-India 2022.

The team’s coach, Oaitse Moeti, said in an interview that despite numerous challenges on their preparations, his side would take the war to the hosts.

“Our preparations were hampered by the fact that most of our players are students, therefore they have to attend school and training at the same,” he said.

The coach said they played friendly games with local teams.

They played against BDF since they were interested in their aggressive style of play.

“We won 4-1, but I will say BDF gave us what we wanted. Tanzania play a physical game, so we did not want our girls to be surprised. They gave us a good practice,” added Moeti.

He said they also played against Mvela, which helped her players with flow of the ball.

“We have watched Tanzania’s videos. They are a physical team, but we have prepared the players. In addition, Tanzania take their development seriously and they have the strongest women football in Africa. Their junior teams have been excelling and they have been dominating at COSAFA Championships. So we are going to face a tough opponent,” he said.

The coach said Tanzania should expect a tough battle from his team, adding that the girls were ready and fired-up to deliver.

The team’s captain, Jessica Modise, said the team was ready for the clash, adding that morale in camp was high and all players were looking forward to Sunday’s game.

“We are aware that The Mares have just qualified for AWCON, and now all eyes are on us, but we are not under any pressure. We are just going to execute our game plan, that’s it,” she said.

 Furthermore, Jessica said the players would fight to win an away game and finish off with their opponents in the second leg in Francistown on March 20.

The team’s right winger, Serati Modisenyane, said Batswana should expect good results, adding that looking at their preparations, they had covered all the ground that would enable them to finish up their opponents.

“The coaches have done their part, so it is now upon us to apply what they had been telling us throughout preparations,” she said.

Midfielder Lotang Ebineng said she was confident with a victory, adding that they understood each other in the field of play, adding that they had trained hard and therefore nothing would stop them from winning.

Goalkeeper, Karabo Luka, said she was cognisant of the fact that when the chips were down, all players would be relying on her department. ENDs