Head Coach of the South African U17 Women’s National Team (Bantwana), Nthabeleng Modiko, is confident of a positive result when they meet Ethiopia in a crucial 2024 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup qualifier scheduled for Sunday, 4 February away at the Abebe Stadium in Addis Ababa.
The South Africans have already arrived in that country and will have two days of preparations before the big encounter – coming after the squad has been in camp from Monday, 15 January.
As part of getting ready for the all-important fixture, before departure Bantwana played two practice matches against the highly-experienced Hollywoodbets Super League sides, JVW and Mamelodi Sundowns Ladies (who are both busy with pre-season training), going down 3-0 and 6-0 respectively.
This proved to be a good exercise for the youngsters and gave the technical team an indication of the progress they have made since assembling for training last month.
“We believe we have a good squad, with some great potential. The technical staff has done all the groundwork and it is up to the players now to implement everything we have worked on in training over the past two and a half weeks. We missed out on the last U17 World Cup with losses to Ethiopia, so we have a score to settle. We are here to ensure that we give our best away from home to make the task a bit easier for us for the return leg,” Modiko told SAFA.net
The squad has also been boosted by the arrival of Spain-based Nobahle Mdelwa – one of two South Africans selected to attend the LaLiga Academy. The other is Sinazo Ntshota who was not called up due to injury.
“We are also very grateful to the Association (SAFA) for allowing us to call up Nobahle Mdelwa from Spain. If you remember she was one of two players who were selected to join the La Liga Academy through a partnership with COSAFA last September. Unfortunately, we could not call up Sinazo Ntshota due to injury,” added Modiko.
“Mdelwa arrived over the weekend, and her football journey has inspired all the other players to dig deep because she is a living example of what football can do for a young girl child. She has also been very impressive in training, and her development showed in the two practices matches we had, so we are very happy to have her in the squad.”
The South African U17 Women’s National Team returns home on Monday, 5 February before taking on Ethiopia in the return leg on Saturday, 10 February 2024 at the Lucas Moripe Stadium in Atteridgeville.
The fourth and final round will be played in June, with the winner between Bantwana and Ethiopia facing the victors between DR Congo and Kenya.
South Africa has a chance to qualify for their third World Cup tournament following appearances in 2010 in Trinidad and Tobago as well as in Uruguay in 2018.
Sixteen teams will participate in the 2024 edition to be held in the Dominican Republic from 16 October to 3 November.
Only three countries will represent the African continent.
Spain are the defending champions.
SA U17 WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM VS ETHIOPIA:
| NAME | POSITION | CLUB |
| Bilquees SALIE | GOALKEEPERS: | SAFA Academy (Gauteng) |
| Mbali NDLOVU | SAFA Academy (Gauteng) | |
| Casey GORDAN | JVW Academy (Gauteng) | |
| Bonolo MOKOMA | DEFENDERS: | JVW Academy (Gauteng) |
| Bonolo PHOSHOKO | SAFA Academy (Gauteng) | |
| Nomfundo MOTAUNG | Springs Home Sweepers (Gauteng) | |
| Sethabile KAMWANDA | Mamelodi Sundowns Academy (Gauteng) | |
| Aphelele MHLONGO | Dlala Ntombazana (KZN) | |
| Masabata MOTHAPO | Ixias FC (Free State) | |
| Samkelo GWAMANDA | Dlala Ntombazana (KZN) | |
| Katleho MOHALE | JVW Academy (Gauteng) | |
| Mpho NKADIMENG | MIDFIELDERS: | SAFA Academy (Gauteng) |
| Lindelwa MABUZA | Mamelodi Sundowns Academy (Gauteng) | |
| Zoe OCTOBER | Cape Town Spurs (Western Cape) | |
| Nobahle MDELWA | LaLiga Academy (Spain) | |
| Nomaswazi VILAKAZI | University of Pretoria (Gauteng) | |
| Julia GONCALVES | JVW Academy (Gauteng) | |
| Katleho MALEBANA | Mamelodi Sundowns Academy (Gauteng) | |
| Luthando RADEBE | Durban Ladies (KZN) | |
| Khutso MOGANO | FORWARDS: | SAFA Academy (Gauteng) |
| Tshepi MAKOLE | Copperbelt Ladies (Limpopo) | |
| Adrielle MIBE | University of Johannesburg (Gauteng) | |
| Gugu MABITSELA | Mamelodi Sundowns Academy (Gauteng) | |
| Khwezi KHOZA | Sunflower WFC (KZN) |
By Matlhomola Morake
