The Under-17 girls side recorded the highest ever winning margin when they beat Mauritius on Wednesday, at the on-going COSAFA Championships to reach the semi-final.
The local girls will now meet Uganda in the semi-final on Friday.
The 14-1 win is a record for any national team as Tapapiwa Gaebolae's troops progress to the semi-finals of the inaugural competition. The team has scored 21 goals and conceded seven in three games. The Young Mares started the competition with a 6-1 win over Seychelles in the first game of the Group B. But a 5-1 defeat by neighbours, South Africa, followed in the second match.
The defeat meant the local girls had to win the final game of the group stages to make it to the semi-finals. Five goals a piece from Pearl Sikwane and Bofelo Rantsho, a Lorato Motlogelwa brace and goals from Kaone Mobongwe and Tlhompho Gabana ensued a thumping over the Islanders. At half-time the local side was 7-1 up and already looked home and dry.
Speaking to the journalists after the game, Gaebolae said the score line was expected and lauded her girls for a professional job on the afternoon.
"It was a good game of football. We made a lot changes to our team, this is a development stage so we wanted to give all the players a chance of international football. We expected this score line because we sacrificed the fluidity of how we play. Some of these players are not at a level where they can play a full game, so this was down to the sacrifices," Gaebolae said. Botswana will meet Uganda on Friday while South Africa take on Zambia in the other semi-final.
