4 November 2018 – The South African national U17 women’s head coach Simphiwe Dludlu was chuffed by how her charges conducted themselves and implemented the game plan in their morale boosting 8-0 win over Canadian Soccer Club in a friendly match played at the Estadio Julio C. Abbadie in Uruguay on Friday, 2 November.
Speaking to SAFA.net after the match, coach Dludlu insisted that the match gave her and the technical team something to build on ahead of their FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup opening match against Mexico on Tuesday, 13 November.
“I think this is a good score to start off with especially considering that fact that we last played a match nine days ago while still in South Africa,” said Dludlu.
“This is a good reflection of the players showing that hunger. Obviously we started slow, not slow in terms of play but getting those goals because we were rushing ourselves. We wanted that early goal and 20 to 30 minutes went by without us getting that goal because we kept on rushing ourselves. We got two good goals and the first goal was a penalty which means we were getting in those areas making difficult for the opponents. With this we have something to build on up until we play our first game of the tournament,” added Dludlu.
Skipper Sibulelo Holweni played a pivotal role in the win as she bagged a hat-trick while Chelsea Daniels and Ember Edwards chipped in with a brace each. Khunjulwa Mali also added her name on the score sheet coming off the bench as an impact player.