Twiga Stars meet Botswana in Olympic Games qualifier

Dar es Salaam. The national women’s football team (Twiga Stars) today face Botswana in the second round of the African qualifiers for next year’s Women's Olympic Football Tournament in Paris, France.

The match has been scheduled to take place at the Azam Complex in Dar es Salaam from 4pm and Twiga Stars head coach Bakari Shime said his players are ready for the clash and target victory.

The return leg will be held on October 31 at Botswana’s National Stadium in Gaborone.

Shime said his players have trained well, despite three players, Anastazia Katunzi, Amina Bilal, and Fatuma Issa, being in doubt as they are nursing their injuries.

He said that the inclusion of the players in his line-up will depend on their progress and a medical examination report from the team’s physicians.

“Other players are ready for the match. As you can remember, we played against them one year ago in the Cosafa Cup and won 3-0. One year is a long time in football, as the team has made positive changes and managed to qualify for the second round. We are taking the match seriously, and victory is our target,” said Shime.

Shime also called on all football lovers to turn at Azam Complex to support the team in the encounter.

The winners between Twiga Stars and Botswana will face the winners between the DR Congo and South Africa on February 19 and 28 next year. Africa will be represented by four nations in the Paris Games.

Records show that five African countries namely Cameroon, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe have participated in the Women's Olympic Football Tournament that was held for the first time in Atlanta in 1996.

As the two spots for the 2024 Paris edition remain up for grabs, CAF's representatives will be known in April 2024 ahead of tough assignments with focus on the countries that played at the recent World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.