2 February 2020 – South Africa’s National Under-20 Women’s team coach Jabulile Baloyi applauded her charges for a great fighting spirit they showed in their preliminary round, second leg 2020 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup qualifier against Zambia on Saturday.
Basetsana came back twice, canceling out every lead the visitors pulled against them, to force the second leg tie to end at a 2-2 draw.
This result means that Basetsana progressed into the next round (first round) of qualifiers, after beating Zambia 4-2 on aggregate.
Basetsana had won 2-0 in the first leg.
Baloyi stated that she was happy with how her side performed on the day, adding that they will now shift their focus in getting past Botswana in the next round.
“I am very happy that we progressed into the next round of the World Cup qualifiers,” Baloyi said. “The girls played really well and we will now face Botswana in the next round. We came back twice from behind, which forced the match to end at 2-2 and therefore winning 4-2 on aggregate.
“I must applaud my girls on the great character they showed in on the day.
“And just looking at Botswana,” Baloyi added. “There will be a whole lot of planning and preparation going into both of those legs. We have already started studying them and we will look at what best approach will work for us going into both fixtures.
“Our main goal is to qualify for the Costa Rica and Panama 2020 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup and nothing less.”
Meanwhile, Zambia’s Under-20 Women’s coach, Charles Haalubono, stated that he and his side came into this second leg tie with the intentions of winning it and possibly progressing into the next round. However, it was not to be.
Haalubono also wished Baloyi well in the remaining rounds of the World Cup qualifiers, adding that he hopes Basetsana will go all the way in securing their first ever FIFA U-20 Women’s World appearance.
“It was very kind of coach Charles to share such remarks as I also hold him in high regard in his application of tactics when it comes to coaching,” Baloyi said. “He also told me that this team has the potential of qualifying to this year’s 2020 FIFA U20 Women’s World Cup tournament, which is what we want to achieve.”