The South Africans go into Monday’s Cosafa U17 Women’s Cup tie with Botswana after a 28-0 win from the opener
South Africa U17 head coach Simphiwe Dludlu has refused to get carried away by the 28-0 humiliation over Seychelles in the Cosafa U17 Women’s Cup opener.
Oyisa Maharzi and Tiffany Kortjie scored six each and Jessica Wade, Nabeelah Galant and Sonkia Mzingel netted hattrick apiece to help Bantwana crush the Seychelloise in Port Louis.
Despite what seems to be a ruthless start, the former Banyana Banyana star insists they have not reached the standard they wanted while urging Seychelles not to lose hope yet.
“I am very happy for the players because this match gave them the confidence that they need going into the tournament,” Dludlu was quoted as saying by the official Safa website.
“They had promised me goals this morning as a gift to me for my birthday. I asked for at least 21 goals but they were adamant to surpass my request and they did.
“I believe that although we scored many goals we were able to keep the shape I wanted, the players kept the discipline and respected the opponent, which is very important in football.
“This type of display should be encouraging to us as a nation but also nations such as Seychelles because this should motivate the girls to want more.
“They must bear in mind that South Africa started this journey a long time ago – the journey of developing women’s football and although we have not reached the standard we want, we are making progress.
“Therefore countries like Seychelles and Madagascar who lost 6-0 to Botswana, should see such results as a motivation to do more for women’s football and not lose hope.
“We didn’t have the strongest opponent and that is a fact, but we needed this win ahead of what will be a tough encounter in our next match against Botswana on Monday.”
Dludlu will hope her side can build on their fine start when they take on rivals Botswana at Francois Xavier Stadium on Monday.
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