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Botswana: Under-20 Women Soccer Team Appeal to Fans
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
2 April 2008
Posted to the web 2 April 2008
Mosah Mokganedi
Captain of the women Under-20 football, Gauta Tsebe, has appealed to fans to come in large numbers to support them in the World Cup qualifying duel against Ghana on Friday night at the National Stadium in Gaborone.
Gauta told Mmegi Sport yesterday that it is only through the support of the nation that they can do well. She said they always feel neglected when they do not see Batswana at their games. She promised fans that they would not disappoint them on Friday.
Botswana reached the second stage of the qualifiers after beating Lesotho on 4-1 aggregate. The junior Women World Cup is billed for October in Chile. Though Botswana's win was not convincing against Lesotho, Gauta believes they have grown in strength. "Our win against Lesotho gave us motivation and I am confident that we will do better this time," she promised.
She said they have had enough training for the game. The pint-sized captain said their strategy is to score as many goals as they can at home to make the second leg in Ghana an easy affair. The West Africans are a closed book to Botswana. But it can be assumed from the performance of the country in female and male soccer tournaments at all age groups that the Ghana Under-20 team is a formidable side. If Botswana's performance against Lesotho is anything to go by, then the girls might have a huge problem overcoming Ghana.
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But like Gauta, assistant coach, Michael Oreng is confident that her team will do well. He pleaded with supporters and the media to be patient with the team as it is still new and going through a learning curve. "Critise them, but not too much," he pleaded. Oreng said they have prepared enough and they are ready for the match. "We will do our best," he promised. He said all the players are available for selection and the morale is very high in the camp. The only problem was that it was difficult to get all players to train together because most of them are students. Oreng will once again pin his hopes on Double Action's goal poacher Thuto 'Ferah' Ramafifi and Lebogang Setereke to lead his side to victory. Botswana Football Association (BFA) technical director, Losika Keatlholetswe said they wanted to organise a friendly game for the team but this was not possible because of financial reasons. Keatlholetswe pleaded that failure to play a friendly game does not mean they are not taking the women team seriously. "This problem is not only peculiar with the women. We also have the same problem with the Under-17 and Under-20 teams," he said. Tickets for the game sell at P20 (grandstand) and P10 elsewhere.
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