However, the victory was one goal short of the record 7-0 win against Mauritius in 2016 and South Sudan in 2021. The Mares won 4-1 away to Gabon and will advance on a 10-1 aggregate score line. The score will go into the history books as the Mares’ biggest win over two legs. Playing in front of the home crowd, the Mares took the lead as early as the eighth minute. Refilwe Tholakele put in an in-swinging corner and Lesego Radiakanyo was at the far post to nod the ball home.
Two minutes later, Gaonyadiwe Ontlametse made it 2-0 for the home side as she slotted into the bottom corner from inside the box. It was 3-0 in the 31st minute as Ontlametse attacked Keitumetse Dithebe’s free-kick at the near post and put her shot past the goalkeeper. Nancy Baeletsi caught the keeper of the line with a long-range effort just three minutes before the break to make it 4-0.
Dithebe curled one around the keeper to make it 5-0 in the referee’s additional time. Lone Gaofetoge made it six when she was allowed to pierce through the opposition’s defence and slotted into the bottom corner. Speaking to the journalists after the game, the Mares’ head coach, Mohambi Saulosi was happy with an extensive score line as he looked ahead to the second round of qualifiers.
“The whole idea was to score as many goals as possible and if we were done in the first half, in the second were not playing Gabon but preparing for the next game,” he said.
Only 180 minutes stand between the Mares and the 2024 WAFCON final berth. The Mares will play Kenya in the final qualifying round for a place in the finals which will be held in Morocco.
