The Junior National U17 Girls team lost 5-0 to South Africa in their second match of the 2024 COSAFA Girls Championship currently underway at the UJ Soweto Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Head Coach, Hafeni Ndeitunga believes that his side still has a chance to redeem themselves in their final match when they play Malawi on Monday, 9 December.
‘Today we were so much better than when we were when we played Madagascar. We were much more structured, and it was difficult for South Africa to break through. We were organized and I don’t think the score line was a true reflection of the of the game itself.”
We came in this tournament with little preparation time, we used girls who played in the CAF U15 Schools Championship because they had more exposure. We will go back to the drawing board and work on a few things and hopefully have a better game against Malawi.
He added that there are a few positives from the results.
‘Not all hope is lost, we now have a team of young girls who can play and compete on the regional stage, we are going back home with a good team, and we will polish this group to enable them to compete again in two years’ time’
The Baby Gladiators opened their COSAFA Campaign on Wednesday,5 December against Madagascar and suffered a 5-0 defeat. They take on Malawi