Bantwana’s World Cup ticket can be a reason for young girls to dream big

JOHANNESBURG: A delighted Simphiwe Dludlu, coach of the Under-17 women’s national team going to Uruguay for the World Cup later this year, believes that Bantanwa’s success will inspire the next generation of women footballers.

Bantwana returned from Morocco yesterday in high spirits as their 6-1 win on aggregated booked them a ticket to Uruguay as one of three African representatives in the global showpiece. Dludlu and her team will travel to Spain before the World Cup as a reward from the South African Football Association (Safa), and also as part of their preparations with a friendly against the Spanish national team a possibility.

“The feeling is surreal,” Dludlu said.

“Making it finally put me at ease because going into the game was nerve-wrecking. It wasn’t because of the fear of the unknown but it was thinking that are we really on the verge of qualifying for the World Cup.

“Are we really at this stage of our journey? It has been a challenging and exciting journey because we were on a mission, and part of that mission was dreaming big. The first stop was in South Africa, putting the team together and the second stop was Uruguay. This is what has happened.

“We are excited about the growth of women’s football in the country.

“We are excited about the interest it will spark by us qualifying for the World Cup. This will motivate that young girl who wants to play football.”

This generation is only the second women’s national team to qualify for the World Cup. The first side to do this was the Under-17 class of 2010 led by coach Solly Luvhengo.