04 Sep 2019

Despite accommodation challenges of moving from one hotel to another, that did not dampen the spirit of Botswana senior women national team to boot out Banyana Banyana in an Olympic qualifier game played at Orlando Stadium on Tuesday.

Botswana women were determined to win and they did that by beating Banyana Banyana 3-2 in a penalty shoot-out.

Thanks to their two-week training camp in Slovakia where they were drilled both in the field and outside.

Their win against Banyana will be engraved in history for it is the only team in the region that has always given Botswana a hard time.

The Tuesday game was a different ball game as the Botswana girls showed determination even when travelling from Botswana to Johannesburg in a bus.

The conversation was that it was now or never, and that the time was now to prevail against Banyana Banyana.

During breakfast, lunch and dinner, the team was strategising and their victory is worth celebrating as the players and coaching staff spent sleepless nights planning for their opponents.

And this is what they said after the game: Assistant coach Alex Malete said “we sacrificed for this game and worked very hard with the players. They were committed and understood what we wanted from them.

We did not sleep as the technical team and they met us halfway. And we have won against a team that is just from the World Cup and won the COSAFA championship. They qualified for the last two Olympics Games and have more players who are based outside. We knew it was our time and the players wanted it more.”

Captain Bonang Otlhagile said “it’s our time now, and it was high time women football rose from the ashes to be taken seriously. It was important to make a statement that if as amateurs we can defeat World Cup participants, what more can we achieve with the necessary support.

It was an emotional game. We carried a burden of expectation that we could no longer ignore. All we displayed tonight was our potential. What happens next is not up to us,” she said.

Player Refilwe Tholakelo said it was an emotional game, and that they wanted it more. “Everything has an ending and we had to beat Banyana Banyana one way or other.

Player Kesegofetse Mochawe said they would celebrate for a day only and focus on their coming game against Zambia. “We wanted to make a statement, and our mission was to go to the third round and we managed,” he said. ENDS