Daunting task for local girls ahead of Windhoek visit

The Botswana Under 17 women’s national team will have their work cut out for them if they are to advance to the next stage in the FIFA Junior World Cup scheduled for 2016 in Jordan.

The team faces a daunting task of overcoming the 2-1 home defeat to their Namibia couterparts in a match played at the National Stadium over the weekend.The two meet again in the second leg of the qualifier encounter away in Windhoek next week.

Botswana headcoach Olorilwe Mogapi knows that the game will not be won easily after a tactically superior Namibia scored two away goals.

“There is a lot of work to be done as it is only a week before we travel to Namibia. Preparations for the game had gone well as we had begun camp on November 6. We had Form1 and Form2 students on camp and then the Form 3 students joined later after finishing their exams,” he said, adding that they had to help the form three players readjust to training.

Nevertheless, Mogapi said the players had excellent fitness levels despite being overpowered by Namibia. The one area of concern, he noted, was that the players did not have enough time to play as a team before officially going on camp. On the game he said, “Our plan was to control the ball in the midfield so we attack from the wings. However, we could not utilize the wings as planned. I will be consulting with the technical team for our approach in the second leg.”

For his part, Namibian headcoach Mervin Mbakera said the first leg win was a big one for them as some of his players tasted an international game for the first time.

“The players showed character by coming back after Botswana equalized. We need to go back home now and work on our mistakes for the second leg,” he said.