05 Apr 2016

The nation is expecting a lot from Botswana Women Senior National team when they meet their nemesis, Banyana Banyana in the AFCON qualifiers, Cameroon 2016 encounter to be played on Saturday at Lobatse Sports Complex.

The game between Botswana and South Africa is important for the former in general because should the teams pass by Banyana, then they will qualify for AFCON for the first time in Botswana football history.

Looking at the team’s training it seems they want to turn the tables around, they are cognisant of the fact that Batswana and South Africa have a slight rivalry in football and should they beat Banyana the country will come to a standstill.

Both the coach, Gaolethoo Nkutlwisang and her girls know the importance of this fixture and for a very long time Botswana found it difficult to beat Banyana,

Of course Banyana have experienced players in the likes of Jermaine Seoposenwe, Sanah Mollo and have qualified for Rio 2016 Olympics.

Equally Botswana has a pool of good players amongst them goalkeeper Sedilame Bosija, Bame Ngenda, Refilwe Tholakele ,Kesegofetse Mochawe,Kgomotso Molefe and Nondi Mahlasela who are equally capable of denying Banyana their normal “Christmas” against Botswana.

No doubt, Botswana would need the twelfth player to rally behind them, the noise of the vuvuzela’s and songs will keep the ladies going. Nkutlwisang, like all the coaches is salivating to guide her troops to make history and deny Banyana to compete at Africa’s big showpiece.

She told BOPA that their game against Banyana is going to be a tough one owing to the fact that both sides want to qualify.

Nkutlwisang said her girls are highly charged and judging them in training, she can safely say they are going to give their opponents a good run for their money.

Furthermore, she said the team vowed that 2016 was their year to qualify adding that she was fully aware that Banyana was a strong opponent but the fact that her charges have been in camp since January preparing for Saturday it was going to be a totally different ball game.

The vice-captain, Kgomotso Molefe said she was aware that the encounter had attracted a lot of interest, adding that she was mindful that the game would be totally different and as a team they have vowed that Banyana will have a tough time. She said the players were ready for the encounter and the nation should expect a positive result, after full time.

The team’s, full back Kesogofetse ‘Odinga’ Mochawe said this was their time and were not going to be intimidated by their opponents, adding that despite the bad record against Banyana, this time things would be different.

She said morale was high at camp and their confidence ahead of the game would take them through and ultimately cause a big upset against their opponents.

The team’s striker, Nondi Mahlasela said its all system go in camp and they were waiting for Banyana adding that should they score an early goal then their opponents would be in trouble.

“I have observed that my team-mates are always motivated after scoring a goal and they do wonders, therefore we are going to play as a unit to ultimately get an early goal.”

The deadly Bame Ngenda said should she be given an opportunity to start with the game, she would not disappoint both Batswana and the technical team. “This is our time, we will leave no stone unturned, we seriously need to win this game, ” she said. Ends