BFA grants 'Ronaldo' friendly wish
Kabelo Boranabi | Saturday April 16, 2022 06:00
The team's coach, Gaolethoo 'Ronaldo' Nkutlwisang had wished that her side be given rigorous preparations ahead of their first ever AWCON finals bow. This was after the team had below-par preparations in the qualifiers but still managed to achieve the historic qualification feat.
Speaking at a press briefing this week, BFA chief executive officer, Mfolo Mfolo said the Mares will undergo at least four more training camps before boarding the plane to Morocco. He said it is the BFA’s wish to see the team competing rather than participating in the tournament. The Mares had their first camp, with a two-weeklong training that ended last week.
The camp comprised over 30 local players as Ronaldo looked to widen the team’s selection pool. On Tuesday, Mfolo said the BFA has secured two friendly games against northern neighbours, Zambia to be played later this month. “The Mares have just finished their first training camp and will reconvene in the last week of April.
The week of April 24-30, our team will play two friendly games against Zambia in Zambia. The team will have a weeklong camp in Zambia and will play Zambia twice. Zambia was to play Cameroon but something came up and we are blessed to have secured such friendly games,” Mfolo said. The Mares will proceed to the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, South Africa for a two-week-long stay.
During their stay in Pretoria, Ronaldo’s girls will play Hollywoodbets Super League champions, Mamelodi Sundowns and AmaTuks while a game against Banyana Banyana remains a possibility. “We are likely to play South Africa also, but we will know by then of the possibility of playing Banyana Banyana. We would know our AWCON finals opponents because the draw would have been done. From then, the team will have a local camp from June 1 to 10. We are looking at partners like Orapa and Jwaneng as we are in search of a fresher environment.
Then we will have our final training camp from June 17 to 24 before we bid the team goodbye. We were looking to take the final camp to Slovakia since we have a good relationship with their FA (Football Association). But we are aware that may not be possible because of the situation in Ukraine, as Slovakia is around that region,” Mfolo.
He, however, said the team is likely to base their final training in Tunisia or Turkey. “We are looking at Tunisia because based on our research, most teams will be having their last camps in and around Morocco, some in Tunisia and Turkey so those remain our options,” he said. Mfolo added the BFA needs P7.2 million to fulfill its plan and he appealed to the private sector for a helping hand.