Mares Upbeat Ahead Of Crunch Shepolopolo Tie
Kabelo Boranabi | Tuesday October 8, 2019 12:25
The two teams will clash at the Francistown Sports Complex tomorrow (Tuesday) evening. The tie will be second leg of the third round of the 2020 Olympic games qualifiers. In the first leg played last Wednesday, the Mares went down by a single goal.
The Mares go into the match trailing for the first time in the qualifiers. The team will miss inspirational captain, Bonang Otlhagile who is serving a suspension. However, the team’s coach’ Gaolethoo ‘Ronaldo’ Nkutlwisang lauds the determination on the squad ahead of the tie and said they are aiming for Zambia scalp.
“We are just going into the game looking for the best possible results. We played them away and we have seen where they are weak and their strongest points. I believe we will be able to overcome them on Tuesday.”
“We will miss Bonang, a captain is someone who leads from the field with performances. We will miss her but it is up to the rest of players to now rise and be counted. It will go down to the determination of the whole squad. We will always have a captain in every department so I do not think we should be worried,” Nkutlwisang said.
The Mares face Shepolopolo in a year where no national team has managed to win against the northern neighbors. Ronaldo banks on the support in the ‘Ghetto’ to stir the team to victory. “The support has always been the best for our teams. So I only hope that they will come in large numbers and rally behind the team.
This is a very important match where we will need the fans more than anything so I hope they come in large numbers,” she said. Botswana will face either Ghana or Kenya in the fourth round of the qualifiers if they manage to overcome Zambia.
Mares’ road to 2020 Olympics
Round 1: 3-2 aggregate win over Namibia
Round 2: 3-2 aggregate win over South Africa after penalties