The SA national Under-17 Women’s team Bantwana will be out to secure another World Cup appearance when they take on Zambia in the final qualifiers for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup next year.

Since their formation in 2009, the South African U17 Women’s National team made their first World Cup appearance in 2010 and they will be hoping to build on that success.

The 2014 FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup will be staged in Costa Rica from 15 March to 5 April 2014.

Bantwana secured a 3-3 draw in the first leg played in Zambia and they will be looking to do home fans proud in the return-leg qualifier on Sunday, 24 November.

Bantwana’s success can be attributed to the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, which has produced several players who went on to represent the country at the 2010 edition of the World Cup.

One such player is Robyn Moodaly, who featured in the U17 squad that travelled to Trinidad and Tobago for the FIFA U17 Women’s World Cup in 2010. The speedy midfielder has had a string of success since her appearance in the World Cup. That led to her selection to the Banyana Banyana squad for the London Olympics last year.

Moodaly is now based in the US where she is studying Sports Science at the AIB College and plays in the American College League.

Meanwhile, Bantwana right-winger and captain, Amogelang Motau believes the encounter is crucial and that they have to give it their all to secure qualification.

“We are excited about the upcoming game. We want this as much as the Zambians do so we’re going to play with all we’ve got. We know it is going to be tough, but we hope the home support will carry us through our final encounter. We also want to make history with another World Cup qualification,” said Motau.

Ten teams have already booked their places in the 2014 edition. The qualified teams are China PR, Korea DPR, Japan, Nigeria, Canada, Mexico, New Zealand, Colombia, Paraguay, Venezuela and Costa Rica qualify automatically as the host nation.

Six slots are still up for grabs with two of those coming from the CAF region.