The Mares made their bow at the continental showpiece in Morocco and were unlucky not to secure a 2023 World Cup play-off match after reaching the quarterfinals.
The team went a step further than their male counterparts, the Zebras, who debuted at the AFCON in 2012 and went out in the knockout stages. Sources have said local authorities should get ready to field inquiries from abroad.
“The Mares’ camp in Morocco was inaccessible by both players and scouts. This was to protect the players and the technical team. I think the team manager at the WAFCON was the one who handled all the inquiries from the onlookers.
I must say there were standout players and they have attracted some interest from teams mostly in North Africa. The Mares’ players have attracted interest from teams mostly in Morocco, Tunisia, Guinea-Bissau, and a handful from Europe.
There has been nothing concrete at the moment and like I said, the team manager would be in a better position to disclose more,” the source said. Mmegi Sport is aware that the attacking duo of Keitumetse Dithebe and Refilwe Tholakele has several clubs looking for their signatures.
The duo is registered with local sides, Mexican Girls and Township Rollers respectively and both scored two goals apiece out of the Mares’ five at the WAFCON.
Double Action’s Lesego Radiakanyo and Mokgabo Thanda of Zambia’s Yasa FC have also been linked with moves to the north. The Mares returned home on Tuesday to a heroines’ welcome at the Sir Seretse Khama International Airport. The team had put in a brave performance at the WAFCON registering a win against Burundi before defeats to Nigeria and South Africa followed. The Mares, however, managed to squeeze through to the quarterfinals but were beaten by the host, Morocco.
The team tried to salvage something from the tournament in the 2023 World Cup playoff match but lost 1-0 to Cameroon. “I think we outdid ourselves, we did not fail.
It is not about the games we lost but who we lost to. Looking at the teams we lost to, they are higher in rankings, had better preparations and could make starting line-up of players based outside the native countries. So our players did very well, there was an improvement in the way we played and I think the tournament was a success because we have learnt a lot and we came back home a better team,” the Mares’ coach, Gaolethoo ‘Ronaldo’ Nkutlwisang said. The coach is also subject to some interest from aboard but was not willing to go into details.
“We have some of those, but for me, I am a civil servant.
I have job security here. If I were to leave, it would be for something very secure. At the moment, I am not thinking of anything,” she said. The Mares’ next assignment will be the 2022 COSAFA Women’s Championship, which begins in late August.
