Khumalo promises to make Nigeria fight hard

Despite getting stuck at the airport in Lagos, Nigeria for almost the entire day on Thursday, Basetsana coach Maud Khumalo says her charges are ready to fight in a bid to qualify for the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in France later this year.

The South African Under-20 side take on Nigeria in the second leg of the final round of the qualifiers at Benin City this afternoon and will have to overcome a 2-0 deficit after losing the first leg at home.

“The girls are very optimistic, they are ready for the game and they know this is the last 90 minutes, so they are ready to fight and give their all,” said Khumalo.

“They know how important this game is, and I am also positive about it.

“When you play away you prepare at home, we anticipated that when we come to this side there might be some factors that might disturb our preparations, that is why we prepared well at home. But, despite that, we have to remain positive and focused because these are situations we can’t control.”

Ahead of this game, Khumalo added that she has been working on some deficiencies the team had in the first leg and wants the team to stick to the game plan this time around to get the result they need.

“I have realised we lost some concentration in our defence, so there are some things I noticed and I made the girls aware of it.”