The team stands in sight of reaching the third round of the qualifiers for the first time in the team's history. The third round of the qualifiers is the final phase for teams to secure a spot at the Africa Under-17 Girls Championship, a qualifier for the World Cup. Young Mares had skipped the round of qualifiers after Equatorial Guinea pulled out of the competition. The Young Mares outdid themselves in the previous week as they came from a goal down to pull a 2-1 win over Algeria in their home tie. The win has put the local girls in pole position ahead of the second leg that is to be played this Sunday at 9pm. With a slim goal lead going into the second leg, the technical team is pulling all the stops to get ready for the Sunday test.
In a recent interview, assistant coach, Bonang 'Bebeto' Mosetlha, expressed concern over the team playing in a late evening clash. The team has since held its training sessions in the evening to acclimatise to playing under floodlights. The Young Mares' squad plies its trade in the local regional leagues and is hardly exposed to evening games. It is also a terrain the squad has never played under. As per Mosetlha, they expect the home crowd to fill the stadium to capacity and the local girls would need to be prepared to deal with the dynamics that may arise from the away encounter. "It is not going to be as easy as we may think. Firstly, we are going to play at nine in the evening, the conditions which our players are not accustomed to. Secondly, we know in Algeria they are famous for using laser lights and it is one of the things we should prepare our players for. One other thing is that we anticipate a capacity-filled stadium and we also need to ready our players for that," said Mosetlha after the first leg win.
The Young Mares will face continental giants, South Africa or Nigeria in the third and final round of the qualifiers if they progress.
