19 Nov 2020

Botswana men’s Under 17 national football team faces a stern test when it faces Malawi in the COSAFA Under 17 Championship in South Africa today.

Botswana has always struggled against Malawi in the same competition. 

When Malawi won the championship in 2001, it had beaten Botswana 2-0. 

The two sides also met in 2007 and Malawi prevailed by a 6-1 margin and in 2017 they won by a score margin of 2-0. 

However, a recent good performance by the senior women’s national team at COSAFA and senior Zebras second leg win over Zambia sent a clear message to the region.

Coach Tebogo Mokute is also aware that Botswana has  always suffered at the hands of the Junior Flames. 

He said in an interview that his players had been in camp for two weeks.

“In my opinion, the boys are fine, despite the fact that we did not have ample time to prepare, but I am happy we did a lot of things that we needed to do in preparation for the game,” he said.

He said the team was free from injuries, noting that the only challenge was that he had three players who were still writing Junior Certificate examinations, and the expectation was that they would join the team later.

Mokute, however, said despite the fact that they were in a difficult group against Malawi, Zambia and Comoros, the boys were ready. 

He said he was cognisant of the fact that the senior women national team performed well recently, adding that he was also aware that expectations were high.

He promised to do their best to hoist the country’s flag high.

“Remember our aim is to reach the knock-out stage and this therefore means that we have to win our games in order to proceed to the next round,” he said. 

And Malawi coach, Deklerk Msakakuona, is surely aware of Botswana’s ambition and Young Zebras are in for tough ride.

Meanwhile, Botswana would also play Comoros on Sunday, while on Wednesday they would come face to face with Zambia.

According to COSAFA, the top two teams in each pool would  advance to the semifinals, while the two finalists would qualify for the 2021 Africa Under 17 Cup of Nations. Ends