WAFCON: Malete slams Botswana’s horrible first-half against Algeria

Botswana senior women’s national team head coach, Alex Basimanebotlhe Malete, has slammed his players for what he termed a horrible first-half performance in the loss to Algeria.

The Mares lost 1-0 to the North Africans in a Group B opener played at Père Jégo Stadium on Sunday, July 6 2025, in Casablanca, Morocco.

Sharing insights on the match, Malete faulted the players for sloppy defending especially in the first half.

“The first half was horrible. I think that is the right word to use. Defensively we were not able to do what we were supposed to do when we had the ball,” the coach told a post-match news conference.

“I am disappointed about the result. The first-half was horrible for us, especially defensively. We were not collective enough to deal with the problems that Algeria were giving us with defending the width, especially the number six and 11 on the outside.

“We were just too far from them defensively. In the second half, we came back a better and stronger team. We tried to create opportunities.”

Nonetheless, the Mares coach said he was still optimistic his charges would find their way into the knockout stages of the competition.

“Now, it means we have a lot of work to do in our second and final match, but we are still positive that we will advance to the knockout stage,” the coach said.

“We are here because we qualified. We are here because we deserve to be here, but we don’t start games like we deserve to be here. We need to start stronger.”

The Mares return to action on July 10 to face pre-tournament favourites Nigeria’s Super Falcons at Larbi Zaouli Stadium, Casablanca. The Super Falcons and Algeria are the joint leaders with three points apiece while Tunisia and Botswana have no points.

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