Basetsana confident of victory over Uganda in home leg

The South African U-20 Women’s National Team, Basetsana, is confident of overturning the away loss they suffered to Uganda in the African U-20 Women’s World Cup qualifying tournament. Basetsana were beaten one nil by Uganda in a closely-contested match at the St Mary’s Stadium in Kitende, Uganda earlier this month (3 December 2021), courtesy of Hadijah Nandago’s goal. The South Africans have had to make changes to their playing personnel for the second leg after several players who featured in the first leg tested positive for Covid 19. “Things are looking good, for now, we are trying to make the best of the situation we find ourselves in. Unfortunately, we have players who have tested positive for covid and are not able to be with us,” said Basetsana coach Jabulile Baloyi. The squad held their first training session with a full complement of players on Wednesday. “Camping one week in the midst of Covid 19 is a bit of a challenge – maybe a two-week camp would alleviate our challenges, because if players test positive they will isolate, and after a few days when we re-test they could be able to join us. Covid 19 has been a terrible challenge for us but we have tried to replace where we can. Fortunately the replacements we have called are all negative with Covid 19 and that pleases us, because that is a good start.” The biggest obstacle for the South African is that some of the selected players are new to the international football scene, more so at such a crucial stage of the qualifiers. “It is a bit of a challenge as we have players that have never been in the national team set-up before and you can see at training that the nerves are there as they don’t know what to expect. But this is a baptism of fire for them and it is something that we need to overcome. I have high hopes they will be ready come matchday,” added Baloyi. Even though they want to win the match outright and qualify for the next round, the former Banyana Banyana player is well aware that a one-nil victory will give her side a fighting chance to stay in the qualifiers as the match could be decided on penalties in the event it ends 1-1 on aggregate. “We are just hoping they quickly get into the system we want to play and challenge for that early goal as it will help us to settle down, and play our normal game. But we would like to finish the game as winners,” said Baloyi. Basetsana will conclude their preparations with the final training session at the Dobsonville Stadium this afternoon (17h00). “I am very optimistic going into this game, I believe we can turn the results around – but then again me believing as head coach is not the same as the players believing in themselves – we need to transfer that energy to them to show them the bigger picture,” concluded Baloyi. According to the Federation of Uganda Football Associations (FUFA) website, Ayub Khalifa Kiyingi, the head coach of the Uganda U-20 Women’s National Team, has named a squad of 20 players to take on Basetsana. Three goalkeepers, seven defenders, five midfielders and five forwards have been called up for the Johannesburg assignment – among them is Cyprus-based striker Juliet Nalukenge who is on the books of Amok Chrysomolia FC, but on load from Apollon Ladies FC (also in Cyprus). “I think these are the best players we have selected to go and do the job. I have the belief that the squad selected is competent to help us secure the result we want. We carry a 1-0 advantage into the second leg but that doesn’t mean we shall go and sit back. We want to go and win in South Africa,” Kiyingi was quoted as saying. Uganda landed in Johannesburg on Wednesday. The second leg of the third round is scheduled for Friday, 17 December 2021 at the Dobsonville Stadium. Kick-off is at 15h00. The South Africans got a bye in the first round and went on to defeat Mozambique 4-2 on aggregate in the second round – emerging victorious in the two legs (1-0; 23 September 2021) and 3-2; 8 October 2021). In the fourth round, the winner between South Africa and Uganda will face either Ghana or Zambia. Both sides are currently locked at 0-0 ahead of the second leg. There will be four teams remaining in the fifth and final round. The quartet will battle it out for the two spots allocated to Africa’s representatives at the 2022 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup set for Costa Rica from 10 – 28 August. This 10th edition was scheduled to be played in 2020 but was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Japan are the defending champions as they won the title in 2018. It will be the second time Costa Rica host a FIFA tournament after the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup.   By Matlhomola Morake