After six back to back failures, Botswana finally booked their place in a Women’s Africa Cup of Nations.
To add to their achievement, the debutants are through to the last eight – in their first attempt.
Under the watchful eye of coach Gaoletlhoo Nkutlwisang, the Mares of Botswana started the tournament with a dominant 4-2 victory over fellow debutants Burundi, but lost 2-0 to the defending champions Nigeria in their second outing.
In the final group stage match, the suffered another defeat – going down 1-0 to neighbours South Africa – but they had booked their place in the last of the competition, leaving Nkutlwisang delighted.
“We lost the game, but we played well. I think we tried to focus on being more offensive, but South Africa was stronger. We may have thought too much about Nigeria’s game against Burundi, and then we tried to score. Despite our defeat, my players played well,” Nkutlwisang told CAFonline.
“We suffered a lot of injuries, maybe because the games are so close together, but despite that we tried to take our chances. We tried to have good results to continue the adventure.”
After their ups and downs in the group stages, they now face a mammoth task of having to deal with the hosts, Morocco in the quarterfinals. They are just one match away from booking their tickets to their maiden FIFA Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand next year.
The Mares are one of three COSAFA countries in the last eight – the others are South Africa and Zambia, and all three stand a great chance of qualifying for the World Cup.
Morocco has won all their group stage matches, which makes the next assignment all the more difficult for Botswana, ranked 152 in the world.
“This is the first time we have participated in WAFCON and it is a great achievement for us to qualify for the second round. We will play against Morocco and we will prepare well for this quarter final. They are a team that is technically good and they have the advantage of playing at home and in front of their fans, but we are ready to face them,” said Nkutlwisang who has been at the helm since 2008.
Botswana’s Road to the Quarterfinals:
Burundi 2 – 4 Botswana
Botswana 0 – 2 Nigeria
South Africa 1 – 0 Botswana
By Matlhomola Morake
