Botswana’s Senior Women team has for the first time in history qualified for the COSAFA finals after defeating Zambia 2-1 in the semi-finals this afternoon.
The Lady Zebras were the first to find the back of the net through Lone Galefetolwe’s brilliant goal on the 9th minute of the game.
Botswana was awarded a penalty and Refilwe Tholakele extended their lead on the 39th minute of the first half.
Irene Lungu however, managed to pull one back scoring for Zambia on added time before half time.
in the second half Zambia had an upper hand piling pressure on Botswana’s defence but Sedilame Bosija was up for the task between the goal posts.
The game ended 2-1 with Botswana booking themselves a place in the finals and awaiting the winner between South Africa and Malawi.
Botswana’s goalkeeper Bosija was selected woman of the match. She has been in fine form of late, conceding only one goal in this tournament so far.
Speaking after the game Botswana Coach Gaolethoo Nkutlwisang said she was exited that they have reached the finals.
She dedicated the victory to one of her players, Golebaone Selebatso, who lost her mother on Monday. “The first game boosted our morale and gave us hope. We knew they would try and attack in numbers, exposing themselves at the back and allowing us to counter attack and getting a goal. We took every game as it came. We are in the final and we will take it from there,” said Nkutlwisang.
For his part Zambia Coach, Bruce Mwape, said the result was bad for them and that they had hoped to equalise in the second half.
He said they started the game well but unfortunately got punished for a lapse of concentration as they conceded the first goal. The Coach said the only thing they are lacking at the moment is the finishing.
“We dominated as far as possession goes and statistics but it was not enough. I decided to pull out Priscah Chilufya because we wanted somebody who could give us crosses from the wing and attack effectively. She was making a lot of mistakes. We will now focus on fighting for the third finish in the tournament,” said Mwape.
Woman of the match Bosija said she was a bit disappointed that she conceded but she was happy that they have qualified for the finals.
She said their captain, Bonang Otlhagile, is always pushing and encouraging them to work harder on the field.
Meanwhile Minister of Youth Empowerment, Sports and Culture Development, Tumiso Rakgare, has promised to reward the team with P250 000.00 for qualifying for the final.
