South Africa recorded their first ever point at a FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup with a goal-less draw against Mexico in Uruguay on Tuesday night.
Bantwana in heroic show as they hold Mexico to goalless draw https://t.co/JtpwjdCoUe via @SAFA_net
— SAFA.net (@SAFA_net) November 14, 2018
It was not the worst Group B result for Bantwana, because Japan and Brazil also played out to a goalless draw in the other Group B match. After missing the last three Under-17 FIFA Women’s World Cup tournaments, South Africa is back at the global stage.
Bantwana’s first and last participation in a World Cup tournament was in 2010, where they had a baptism of fire.They lost all their three group stage matches, conceding 17 goals in the process and finding the back of the net only twice.
This time they opened their campaign against Mexico in Maldonado.
Bantwana survived a scare inside the first three minutes of the match but after that they pushed forward in numbers, testing Mexico’s defence.
The weather conditions changed drastically in the second half, making life difficult for both teams. The match finished goalless, with South Africa registering their first ever point at a FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cup.
“We were up against a team that that in 2010 beat us 4-0. Getting a draw is a good result for us although there is still a lot that we need to do to apply ourselves in the game. But I’m quite happy with the effort that the girls put in at the end. We could not see the ball with the midst and the dew, I wish there were lights the game would have been better,” Bantwana coach Simphiwe Dludlu told the media.
Another African side in action Ghana was running amok against the hosts in Montevideo in a Group A match. The West Africans took a two-goal lead into halftime and they were not done as they scored three times in the second stanza to wallop Uruguay 5-0.
New Zealand beat Finland 1-0 in the other Group A encounter.
