{"id":3158,"date":"2022-02-26T17:44:23","date_gmt":"2022-02-26T17:44:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares"},"modified":"2022-02-26T19:29:06","modified_gmt":"2022-02-26T19:29:06","slug":"history-beckons-for-the-mares","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares","title":{"rendered":"History beckons for the Mares"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. <\/strong><\/span>The Mares, as Botswana women\u2019s national team is affectionately called, will be seeking to write their own history when they host Zimbabwe at the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium (Wednesday).<\/p>\n

Following their 3 \u2013 1 win over their Zimbabwe counterparts this past Friday, the local lasses will go into the Wednesday encounter knowing nothing but qualification will be acceptable outcome.<\/p>\n

Should they qualify, the local girls will have put their names in the annuls of Botswana\u2019s football history as the first national women\u2019s team to qualify for the Africa Women Cup of Nations (AWCON).<\/p>\n

The qualification will also give credence to the long-touted song of those who called for more investment into local women\u2019s football. The women\u2019s game has always been seen as a low hanging fruit for Botswana football\u2019s quest for glory.<\/p>\n

With the men\u2019s team finding it hard to qualify for major tournaments, the ever-improving women\u2019s game has always been seen as Botswana\u2019s fastest possible route to the World Cup, and qualifying for Afcon will give hope the dream is even closer.<\/p>\n

Sweeter still, the qualification will have come at a time when the local women\u2019s league has just resumed after a more than two-years hiatus caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
\nFor the team\u2019s long suffering and long serving coach Gaoletlhoo Ronaldo Nkutlwisang, a ticket to the AWCON finals in Morocco will be a validation of her credentials.<\/p>\n

Over the many years she has been in charge, Nkutlwisang has overseen a dramatic change in the fortunes of \u2018The Mares.\u2019 Where the team was once the whipping girls, Nkutlwisang has managed to turn its fortunes and they are now offering a whipping of their own.<\/p>\n

All this has been achieved despite persistent calls from critics for \u2018The Mares\u2019 coach to be relieved of her duties. The critics have always cited that the coach has stayed for a long time in her job.<\/p>\n

Speaking in an interview, an upbeat Nkutlwisang said the team is ready to complete the job it started. \u201cWhat happened in Zimbabwe will not count. Our determination is to win the game and qualify.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are going in this game ready to fight. The morale in the camp is very high. We only have knocks from the previous game but have no major injuries. All that which we need right now is a little recovery time,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Despite persistent calls for her head, Nkutlwisang said she is currently focused only in her mission to qualify the team for its maiden AWCON. She said she is under no pressure and she will continue to give her best for the country and the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll we ask for is for Batswana to unite behind the team and support it,\u201d she pleaded.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Botswana<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Botswana. The Mares, as Botswana women\u2019s national team is affectionately called, will be seeking to write their own history when they host Zimbabwe at the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium (Wednesday). Following their 3 \u2013 1 win over their Zimbabwe counterparts this past Friday, the local lasses will go into the Wednesday encounter knowing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":3157,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17,16],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-3158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-botswana","tag-botswana"],"yoast_head":"\nHistory beckons for the Mares - Botswana<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Mares, as Botswana women\u2019s national team is affectionately called, will be seeking to write their own history when t ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"History beckons for the Mares\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Mares, as Botswana women\u2019s national team is affectionately called, will be seeking to write their own history when t ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Botswana\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-26T17:44:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-02-26T19:29:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/02\/img-621a7f6b0978a.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"696\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"523\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"History beckons for the Mares\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-26T17:44:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-26T19:29:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares\"},\"wordCount\":477,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/02\/img-621a7f6b0978a.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Botswana\",\"Botswana\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares\",\"name\":\"History beckons for the Mares - Botswana\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/02\/img-621a7f6b0978a.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-26T17:44:23+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-02-26T19:29:06+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The Mares, as Botswana women\u2019s national team is affectionately called, will be seeking to write their own history when t ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/02\/img-621a7f6b0978a.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/02\/img-621a7f6b0978a.jpg\",\"width\":696,\"height\":523,\"caption\":\"History beckons for the Mares\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"History beckons for the Mares\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/\",\"name\":\"Botswana\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"History beckons for the Mares - Botswana","description":"The Mares, as Botswana women\u2019s national team is affectionately called, will be seeking to write their own history when t ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"History beckons for the Mares","og_description":"The Mares, as Botswana women\u2019s national team is affectionately called, will be seeking to write their own history when t ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares","og_site_name":"Botswana","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2022-02-26T17:44:23+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-02-26T19:29:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":696,"height":523,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/02\/img-621a7f6b0978a.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"History beckons for the Mares","datePublished":"2022-02-26T17:44:23+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-26T19:29:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares"},"wordCount":477,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/02\/img-621a7f6b0978a.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Botswana","Botswana"],"articleSection":["all news","homepage-english","sport","twitter"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares","name":"History beckons for the Mares - Botswana","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/02\/img-621a7f6b0978a.jpg","datePublished":"2022-02-26T17:44:23+00:00","dateModified":"2022-02-26T19:29:06+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The Mares, as Botswana women\u2019s national team is affectionately called, will be seeking to write their own history when t ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/02\/img-621a7f6b0978a.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/botswana\/sites\/38\/2022\/02\/img-621a7f6b0978a.jpg","width":696,"height":523,"caption":"History beckons for the Mares"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/all-news\/history-beckons-for-the-mares#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"History beckons for the Mares"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/","name":"Botswana","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3158\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/botswana\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}