Under-17 girls off to finish Zim

Kabelo Boranabi | Friday January 24, 2020 14:19

Raring to go: The Under-17 coach, Tapaphiwa Gaebolae and team captain, Lorato Motlogelwa speaking to the press before their departure to Zimbabwe PIC: PHATSIMO KAPENG

After a 5-0 drubbing of Zimbabwe a fortnight ago, the team visits their peers at the Barbourfields Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

A brace from Dimpho Sedirwa and a goal each from Precious Tlhapi, Yaone Modise and captain Lorato Motlogelwa gave the locals a dominant advantage ahead of the second leg.

Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, the team’s coach Tapaphiwa Gaebolae said her side is ready for the clash and said they will finish off the job in Bulawayo.

“We played Zimbabwe and we won the game 5-0. I cannot say that we did not have shortfalls in the win. But I believe in these past two weeks that we have been in camp, we worked on them. We have two slight injuries but the medical team said they are not serious and the players might be able to play over the weekend,” she said.

“When we get there, there is no point for us to sit back and allow them to come at us. We will attack as we did here. We also are aware that we might find some issues in Zimbabwe. This is African football, and travelling in Africa can be a problem. But we have prepared the girls for anything. They are ready mentally and psychologically.”

Skipper, Motlogelwa feels the second leg is a new game for the troops. She also said the approach would be different while positive results are on the back of the players’ minds.

“We as the players agreed that we need to start afresh. We will play like we a playing a completely new team so I think we do a better job away. The way we play will be different, the attitude will also be different but what we want is to win away and proceed to the second round,” she said.

A testing time lies ahead for the local girls after Zimbabwe coach, Garthly Chikunba warned that his side would give their best in the home game. He missed three of his key players ahead of the first leg but warned that it will not be a walk in the park for the local team in Harare.

“I could not bring the whole squad because of administrative issues, which I would not want to talk about. We played well but Botswana has been competing at this level while we just formed the team a while back. Yes, we lost but we will not be beaten again in Zimbabwe. We might not proceed to the next round but we will not lose,” Chikunba said after the first leg.