22 Jun 2022

 Some pundits are skeptical about the senior women national football team readiness ahead of the 2022 Africa Women Cup of Nations (WAFCON) in Morocco July 2- 23.

Since their qualification, The Mares have only played two international friendless against the Copper Queens of Zambia. The team also had a training camp in Orapa and Jwaneng.

Botswana is in Group C with fellow debutants Burundi, 11 times championship winners Nigeria and five times runner ups South Africa. 

In an interview, former Zebras captain, Mompati ‘Apache’ Thuma said the team was not adequately prepared. 

 He said the training camp should have been complemented by several international friendlies. 

He said for a team to gauge its readiness, it must play competitive games.

The Mares, Thuma said, were in a tricky group, therefore Botswana Football Association should have intensified the training. “I think they should have taken them to a training camp outside the country like it was the case with Zebras where we were at a high performance centre in Rustenburg, and also went to Cameroon,” he said.

The captain, however, advised that the technical team should not be under pressure to play friendly games now as that could be a recipe for disaster given that they had to avoid injuries. “But all in all, we have not prepared well, so it is going to be difficult for us to bring positive results,” he said.

The former captain, however, hailed the team for making it to AWCON, saying qualifying for the continental showpiece  was intriguing. “No doubt, the women have made history by qualifying for the AWCON for the first time,” he said.

Thuma said qualifying came with a lot of responsibility and challenges, amongst them, allowances that were always a talking point in Africa.

“Even at the World Cup, African countries were the one who were only fighting for the allowances, but I guess this time they sorted everything before they departed for Morocco,” he said.

Thuma further said despite the challenges, it was imperative that the players give their all in Morocco, adding he was cognisant of the fact that supporters wanted good results.

“At the end of the day, we have to accept any result and be proud as a nation that our women had made it to the Africa’s showpiece and out of 53 countries in Africa, we managed to make a cut. That alone means we are amongst the best,” he said. 

He tipped captain Bonang ‘Bebeto’ Otlhagile to be mindful that she would be leading a team of different people and as such must be accommodative.

Sunday Standard sport editor, Botlhale Koothopile, decried The Mares’ inadequate preparations.

“The team did not have enough friendly games, either locally or internationally expect for the Zambian international friendly,” he said. Koothopile said by the look of things, the technical team did not have a an opportunity to assess players in match situations and therefore could not do any selection adjustments even if there was need to.He said training camps should have been in Gaborone where it would be easier to arrange friendly games.

“Jwaneng has also been a COVID-19 hotspot and how do you take athletes on the brink of international duty to a COVID -19 hotspot? In short, the preparations fell way short of what one would expect. The Mares deserved better,” he said. 

Meanwhile, BFA general manager Monnakgotla Mojaki said they had planned to set up a training camp in Tunisia, but abandoned the idea as the country’s largest trade union had embarked on strike.

He, however, said they would play some friendly games against teams in Morocco that were not in the same group with Botswana. ENDS