The Botswana’s senior women football team, The Mares, will today, face Tanzania’s Twiga Stars in the return leg of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games qualifier in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The Mares are seeking for a redemption and to overturn a 1-0 deficit from the first encounter in Gaborone on Friday night.

A win with two goals without the opponent scoring, will take the Mares to the next level of the qualifying stages. Therefore, the Mares will need an improved performance to progress to the next qualifying round.

Coach Gaoletlhoo Nkutlwisang has identified playing long balls as one of the areas that the team must address. “We played long balls and Tanzania utilised on them. This is something we need to watch out for in our second leg,” she said.

Despite the first leg defeat, Nkutlwisang said the tie was not over and urged her players to approach the return fixture with a fighting spirit.

“If they managed to score, it means we can also do likewise. The players must have a fighting spirit because it is not yet over,” she said.

She acknowledged that playing away from home would be challenging, with Tanzania expected to enjoy strong support from their fans in Dar es Salaam.

However, she believed the atmosphere could provide additional motivation for the Mares. “Playing Tanzania is not going to be easy because we know that they are going to have their supporters fill up the stadium, but maybe that will give us the push that we need,” she said. Nkutlwisang said the team was determined to improve on its first leg performance and return with better results.

“We may have lost the first leg, but we are determined to come back with better results,” she said.

The winner on aggregate will advance to the next qualifying round, where they will face either Ethiopia or Rwanda.  ENDS