The South African Under 17 Women’s National Team (Bantwana) is on the brink of qualifying for their second FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup tournament.

The squad has just returned from Lusaka, Zambia where they played to a three-all (3-3) draw in the first leg of the final round of the qualifier against the hosts.

The match took place on Sunday, 3 November at the Nkoloma Stadium.

Two goals from Gabriella Salgado and one from Anelisa Ndeybi put South Africa one foot into the tournament that will be held in Costa Rica next year.

The three away goals Bantwana scored means any draw of less than three goals will be enough to see them qualify.

“We played well given the time we spent together ahead of the qualifier. The girls managed to pick-up after being a goal down early in the match. I think the nerves got to them but we managed to keep Zambia at bay and took the lead going into the break,” said SA U17 head coach Sheryl Botes.

“The girls played better in the second half despite conceding the only goal in the second stanza which was mainly due to goalkeeping mistakes, something we will have to work on going into the second leg. We are looking at bringing in a new goalkeeper to add more depth in that department.”

Botes said she had already started plotting for Zambia’s downfall in the second leg.

“We will sit down and prepare thoroughly for the return leg as we have set our sights on qualifying for the competition next year. With the three away goals we scored, we are looking at making it hard for the Zambians when we meet them in a fortnight’s time. We will have the home crowd behind us and I am confident that we will qualify for the World Cup,” said Botes.

The crucial return-leg match will be played on Saturday, 23 November 2013.

The winner of this match will be one of the three African representatives in Costa Rica, South America. The 2014 edition of the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup will be staged between 15 March and 5 April.-TDN
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