The Botswana National Under-20 Women’s team jetted off to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Tuesday (yesterday) afternoon for their second leg World Cup Costa Rica 2022 qualifier fixture against Ethiopia scheduled for Friday, December 17th.
Although Botswana trails 3 – 1 after losing to Ethiopia from the first leg of the U20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers held recently at the Obed Itani Chilume stadium in Francistown, the team has promised to fight tooth and nail to reverse the recent defeat.
U20 Head coach, Thapaphiwa Gaebolae strongly believes her charges are well-prepared to tackle Ethiopia and regain their glory despite missing their captain, Keitumetse ‘Ben 10’ Dithebe, who is currently undergoing trials in France, and Rethabile Segobye will guide the team whilst in Ethiopia.
She affirmed that her team is hungry to get a good result and that they will stop at nothing to impress.
“Quite encouraging is that we know our opponents and understand them very well, they are an active team in terms of attack, and they are very energetic, and generally a good team. However, we believe our team is better and more aggressive than our opponents hence we will put on a good fight to get a good, impressive result that will cancel our recent loss to Ethiopia,” added Gaebolae.
The Botswana Football Association (BFA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Goabaone G. Taylor has also wished the Botswana National Under-20 Girls Football Team success.
“I want to wish you all, players and technical team, the best success in Ethiopia, that you will give joy to Batswana by qualifying for the World Cup,” Taylor said.
“You should not have the smallest doubt that, despite the distance, the entire nation will be by your side, with enthusiasm, joy and with strong hope, and with the conviction that you are giving the best of yourselves in the name of Botswana.”
The game will be played on Friday during lunchtime at the Abebe Bekila stadium in the capital city of Addis Ababa.