GABORONE, June 25 (Xinhua) -- Botswana's national women soccer team seeks to emulate their male counterparts and go all the way to the finals of the regional Confederation of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) women's championship slated for July 31-August 11 in South Africa.
The team head coach Gaoletlhoo Nkutusang said on Tuesday following naming of the provisional squad for the tournament that they are going to prepare thoroughly to make sure they do well at the tournament.
The coach revealed a squad of 25 local based players who will report for a short conditioning camp from Tuesday until Sunday.
She said she wanted to gauge the team's fitness levels as the local season has already ended, and thus it was important to ensure they do not drop in fitness before the tournament.
She revealed that she has called some youngsters to the team who recently impressed in the local league.
She said foreign based players will also be called for the second camp in early July so that they can train with the rest of the team ahead of the tournament.
Nkutusang said although she is not under pressure to emulate the recent performance of the men's team that came runners-up in the COSAFA tournament in Durban earlier this month, they are aiming to do well and even go all the way to the final.
Participating teams for this year's tournament are Angola, Botswana, Comores Islands, Eswatini, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia.
The draw for the competition will take place on July 3 and will see the 12 teams split into three groups each containing four sides.
The top team in each pool will advance to the semifinals along with the best-placed runner-up. Botswana never advanced to the knockout stage before. Enditem
