Basetsana prepares for World Cup

The South Africans fly out to Namibia today, Friday, 30 October with their match scheduled to take place on tomorrow. Kick-off is at 4pm.

The Basetsana players have been camping at the High Performance Centre (HPC) in Pretoria undergoing scientific testing. “We have to ensure that the players are fully fit and prepared for the qualifiers, where we will meet either Reunion or Madagascar on 5 December. In the first leg Reunion beat Madagascar 3-1, so we have to be at our best,” said team manager Hilton-Smith.

Germany next year

The Women's U-20 World Cup is scheduled for Germany next year from 13 July to 1 August.

In the qualifiers, South Africa is in Group A together with arch-rivals Nigeria, as well as Reunion, Madagascar, Uganda and Rwanda.

“Namibia is very a strong side. The majority of their women's senior national team players are in the U-20 squad as they have a very big youth-development programme. This will, therefore, be a tough encounter for us, but it should come in handy as it will prepare us well for the qualifiers,” said Hilton-Smith.

Banyana Banyana players included

Two Banyana Banyana players have been included in the Basetsana squad, Chantelle Esau and Busisiwe Ndimini.

Group B of the qualifiers features Namibia, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Egypt and Tunisia. Mozambique was part of the group, but has since withdrawn its participation in the qualifiers due to financial constraints.