The game is the best teacher This week we hear from Simphiwe Dludlu – Bantwana Bantwana head coach
On the women’s national U17 side’s World Cup preparations
We started our first training session on Monday because we travelled from South Africa on Saturday. On Sunday, we just wanted the girls to relax and recover from jet lag. We only started our first training session on Monday and we will play a friendly game against a local team’s U20 side on 2 November and then we will have another friendly game against the hosts, Uruguay, on 5 November. Everything is still going according to plan so far.
On the conditions in Uruguay
It is not as hot as we anticipated it to be. I mean, it is a bit windy and we have already gotten used to it. We will feel it though when we are on the ground and how the lungs are taking it, because feeling it walking and feeling it playing on the field are different. So that’s what we are anticipating, but the excitement that is there is that we are here and the girls cannot wait to play the first game. We came early so that we can acclimatise and settle before our first game and, by then, we will know how it is when it’s cold, how it is when it’s hot and how it is when it’s raining.
On the tough Group B
I think the girls are ready. You will remember that we have been travelling, playing tournaments and having camps. When we did all that, the bigger picture was the World Cup and we were trying to get the girls ready for the start of the tournament. We had nine months of preparations and it has sunk in the girls’ minds that we have arrived and we want to do well in the World Cup. Yes, we have a few touch-ups to do before the tournament gets underway, where we have to look at our opponents and see how they play so that we can include that in the plotting against them. On Monday, before our first training session, we had to do the analysis of the team on what we should be doing better in the few days left before the tournament and looked at the footages of our opponents as well. We want to start the tournament with our eyes wide open.
On the expected challenges
The teams that have played longer in the World Cups, their tactical awareness and discipline will be a bit of a challenge for the girls, but they have their weaknesses as well because they might be taking us lightly and we are looking to pounce on that. But their tactical discipline is what you see clearly because even during the qualifiers, they play more games to qualify and it’s in the tournament set-up. They also have different ways of playing and it’s up to us to adapt quickly and plan for them.
On calming the nerves before big games
It becomes easy when you prepared it by playing more friendlies, more tournaments and having more camps. We also toured Spain and 90% of the team that we have played good teams in those camps and tours, so there is no way I will tell them to calm their nerves when playing these games, except that the game is the best teacher. They understand that they are playing against other girls with two eyes, two legs, two ears, two hands and all of that. It’s a matter of them getting ready to fight and get the results. For me as a coach, it is to see where they are mentally and physically and then put that together and see to it that we have a balance for us to get better and overcome our opponents.
On how far they can go in the tournament
A dream of mine is to go all the way, obviously, and that’s how we are training and programming our team to say we can go a step further. But the most important thing is to take each game as it comes and put our best foot forward because we want to advance to the next stage and do better than we did in 2010. That is our objective. The biggest thing is that we want the girls to perform to the best of their ability. They always say with good preparation and putting your best foot forward, you are bound to succeed. Although it doesn’t guarantee you success, it gives you the potential of succeeding and that is what we are hoping to do. Simphiwe Dludlu, Bantwana Bantwana head coach