28 Sep 2026

The senior women’s national football team head coach, Gaolethoo Nkutlwisang maintains that the weekend’s international friendly match against the Brave Gladiators of Namibia provided the necessary opportunity to assess the team’s tactical preparations despite an uninspiring performance.

The Mares, as the women’s national football team is fondly called, were held to a one-all draw against a new look Namibian senior national team in a match played at the Lobatse Sport Complex on Saturday.

In a post-match interview, Nkutlwisang said the technical bench would use the positives picked from the match to fine tune their tactical preparations ahead of the upcoming Confederation of African Football (CAF) Women’s Olympic qualifier.

The Mares are scheduled to play against Tanzania for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic football tournament on October 9 and October 13.

As preparations for the fixture intensify, Nkutlwisang was adamant that against Namibia on Saturday, The Mares were generally dominant in terms of combinations as they enjoyed a lion’s share of possession against the youthful Brave Gladiators.

As part of their build up to the Tanzania match, The Mares are scheduled to play two international friendly matches against Namibia with the last round expected to be played at the National Stadium.

In the absence of head coach Lucky Kakuva, the Namibian side had roped in assistant coach, Julius Simbombo to oversee the team’s preparations in the Botswana camp ahead of their equally tricky Olympic qualifier against neighbouring Angola on the same weekend as The Mares.

In a post-match interview, Simbombo said The Mares gave a good preparatory match for his side as they used the game to assess some upcoming players in the squad.

He said they approached the game cautiously and missed some chances in the first half which could have had a positive impact at the end.

Simbombo said the technical team was however worried about fitness levels in the team and were hoping to recover and make amends on the return leg.

The Mares were the first to draw blood in a lukewarm match played before an empty stadium in Lobatse.

Laone Moloi connected a cut back pass to break the ice after an impressive build-up on the edge of the box.

Lack of concentration between The Mares shot stopper, Lesego Moeng and her defensive wall resulted in Namibia pulling one back in the second half to level matters. ENDS