South Africa - BasetsanaSafa media

Basetsana training in Xiamen for China U19 invitational tournament

The South African women's team will participate in a U19 girls invitational tournament in China scheduled to start on Monday, May 6.

Basetsana will be competing against Vietnam, Thailand and hosts China in a round-robin format. 

They enjoyed their first training session in Xiamen on Sunday.​​

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Head coach Sheryl Botes, who led a 20-player squad to China, has backed her youth side to impress and challenge for glory.

“We have a very good group of players who already have national caps and international experience," Botes told the media.

"A few of them participated in the FIFA U-17 World Cup in Uruguay, late last year and a few others have been part of the national set up for a few years. Some also participated in the Zone 5 region games, which we won.

"I believe that we have a great chance of displaying our skills in this tournament, but we are definitely here to gain experience and compete against different styles of play and tactical strategies.”

The five-day competition is part of the team's preparation for the Cosafa U20 Women's Cup and Fifa U20 Women’s World Cup qualifiers later this year. 

South Africa will open their campaign against Thailand in Xiamen on May 6, before clashes against China and Vietnam on May 8 and May 10 respectively.

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