Botswana head coach Alex Malete remains defiant ahead of his side’s must-win encounter against African giants Nigeria in the second Group B match of the 2024 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations, Soccernet.ng reports.
Following a narrow 1-0 loss to Algeria in their group opener, Botswana — the lowest ranked team in the group — find themselves in a precarious position.
Nigeria, the continent’s most decorated women’s national team with nine WAFCON titles, comfortably dispatched Tunisia 3-0 in their own opening fixture, to establish their status as clear favourites.
Yet Malete believes his team, nicknamed The Mares, can still fight their way into the knockout stages.
“We have to be calm and not desperate when we face Nigeria,” Malete told SabcSports. “We have to be able to express ourselves in terms of things that we do well. Look at Nigeria as well and see what they do well and see what they struggle with and do our best to use that to our advantage.”
Botswana will be boosted by the return of two key players — Lone Gaofetoge and Nandi Mahlasela — both of whom missed the Algeria game due to accumulated suspensions from previous qualifiers.
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Gaofetoge’s ability to deliver long balls and exploit attacking spaces is expected to be critical to Botswana’s game plan against Nigeria’s experienced defence.
Malete stressed the importance of remaining tactical rather than desperate.
“But what I’m happy about is the positivity within the camp, the spirit within the camp, the unity within the camp,” Malete added.
“It’s the environment for me that will ensure that we proceed to the next round.
“We have a very positive group, they’ve been very impressive since we started preparations and we are looking forward to our next match and we’ll do everything to make sure that we qualify to the next round.”
To qualify for the knockout stages, Botswana will likely need to take maximum points from one their remaining matches and avoid defeat in the other. They are yet to play Nigeria and Tunisia.
Nigeria’s Super Falcons and Botswana will face off on Thursday, July 10, inside the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco.