28 September 2017 – The South African U20 women’s national team is looking to finish off the job when they travel to Windhoek to face Namibia in the second leg of the FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup at the Sam Nojuma Stadium on Sunday, 1 October.
Basetsana come into the clash on cruise control with a comfortable 5-0 win handed to their opponents in the first leg encounter played at the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto a fortnight ago.
Basetsana are yet to make a World Cup appearance and will be hoping to rewrite the South African history books by qualifying for the world showpiece set to take place in France next August.
Under the stewardship of former Banyana Banyana players in head coach, Maud Khumalo and her assistant, Simphiwe Dludlu, the young South Africans have been lethal in front of goal while keeping the back door shut. Basetsana have hit the back of the net an astounding 10 times in just two matches without conceding.
Another high scoring game is on the cards for the South Africans should Namibia not have a plan around the dangerous attacking trio of Linda Motlhalo, Gabriela Salgado and Lalona Daweti.
The team’s recent success is something coach Khumalo has warned her charges against saying that teams will start being more careful of their dangerous attacks.
“We have told the players not to become complacent and think they have arrived. We are scoring goals which is very good but there are still a number of factors that we are working on to ensure that we put together a solid team that can compete and qualify for the World Cup” said Khumalo.
Even with a comfortable scoreline, Basetsana will need to be careful of the young gladiators at home who will be at full strength with the return of key players that were doing duty with the senior team in the recently held COSAFA Women’s championships in Zimbabwe.
A win over Namibia for South Africa which is most likely will set up a meeting with Burundi who are through to the second round after Rwanda pulled out of the qualifiers.