09 Sep 2022

Botswana senior women national football team’s six goals against Comoros were not enough to take the team to the next round of the Hollywoodbets COSAFA championships.

Botswana finished on position two of Group C with five points, just a point shy of the six needed to reach the semi-finals.

 The Mares coach, Gaolethoo Nkutlwisang, said despite failing to make it to the semi finals, there were some positives to take away from the tournament.

She said the players showed a lot of character, with their defence compact, hence conceding only one goal from three games and scoring seven.

Nkutlwisang said in this edition, they were not necessarily after results, but their mission was to give the players exposure and game time.

“Generally I was happy with their fighting spirit, they played as a unit and were growing every game,” she said.

She added that the players’ character and strength were also tested against Malawi, given that the game was physical.

The coach said Lone Gaofetoge and Ontlametse Gaonyadiwe won the player of the match awards in the Tanzania and Comoros games.

She said they did not play their normal formation during the tournament as the association had adopted a 3-5-2 philosophy. She said this therefore meant that going forward, they would have to adopt it, adding ‘we still have to train the players on the 3-5-2 formation and pick the advantages and disadvantages’.  ENDS