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’re disappointed with the result against Algeria, but we’ve taken key lessons from that performance,” Malete said via the Daily News. “We didn’t start well, and at this level, every second counts. We’ve addressed that and will be smarter against Nigeria.”
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.
“We’ve analysed Nigeria’s style from both their game against Tunisia and past friendlies,” he noted. “We know what we’re up against, but we must play with intelligence and purpose.”
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.
“We’ve identified where we went wrong. Now it’s about putting those lessons into action,” Malete said. “If we start stronger, we can make life more difficult for our opponents. We can’t keep giving teams the advantage.”
Nigeria’s Super Falcons and Botswana will face off on Thursday, July 10, inside the Larbi Zaouli Stadium in Casablanca, Morocco.
