Gaborone- — The women’s senior national team, The Mares will face Harambee Starlets’ of Kenya in a 2024 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations qualifiers clash to be played at Nairobi’s Nyayo National Stadium today.
The Mares need to put their best foot forward and dominate all the legs for them to qualify for 2024 Africa Women’s Cup of Nations, which would be their second outing at the continental showpiece.
However, it is not going to be an easy game for the Mares, given that Kenyan fans are expected to fill the stadium to the rafters in order to intimidate the visitors as they did against Cameroon.
The Mares coach Alex Malete is aware that that mind games might apply and he indicated that the team had done most of its preparation while still at home.
He said what would make the difference was the mental preparedness of his team, adding that he was happy that during preparation they ensured that the team was mentally ready for the game.
“We had to make sure that they feel good about the game, that they are not too excited and not over-confident,” he said.
Malete stated said he was happy that his players had realised that the Harambee Starlets were under pressure to produce results at home, adding that this could work for the Mares.
“The opponents will try to go all out to win and in the process they are bound to make mistakes, like they did against Cameroon, where they were saved by penalties,” he said. He pointed out that though the Botswana ladies were different from Cameroon, there were some similarities and players’ profiles were the same.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
He said they had two blows, given that striker Jentrix Shikangwa was injured and they had dropped attacking midfielder, Essie Akida, who plays in Greece.
“Akida played well against Cameroon, home and away and she even scored a penalty.
However we are not worried because we have done all the technical, tactical and conditioning aspects during our preparation,” he said.
Kenyan sport journalist Gregory Mulemi said in an interview with BOPA that Botswana should be weary of Harambee Starlets, more especially playing at home.
He said the team was made up of both youth and experience adding that they had one of the finest goalkeepers in the region, Lilian Awuor, who plays for ASJ Soyaux Charente in France.
Mulemi said from his interviews with Amour, she was confident of winning the game, but at the same time they were not underrating The Mares.
In the defence, he said there were Ruth Ingosi and Dorcas Shikobe, adding that these were players who had been with the team for quite some time and they knew what was expected of them to get the results.
He said they also knew the capabilities of The Mares given that they had experienced players such as Sedilame Bosija, Refilwe Tholakelo and Esalenna Galekhutle.
BOPA
