TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League: Toure and Botes praise the high level of the maiden edition
During a press conference held on Wednesday in Cairo, the Technical Study Group members gave their analysis of the first edition of the TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League.
Clementine Touré, Côte d’Ivoire Women’s National Team Head Coach and CAF Instructor, shared the stage with Sheryl Botes - Head Coach of SAFA Girls Soccer Academy and CAF Instructor on this occasion.
Both answered to the questions on impressive teams, best strategies, and top players so far. They gave their appreciation of this final tournament and shared their predictions on the possible winner.
The TotalEnergies CAF Women’s Champions League Final will oppose Hasaacas Ladies from Ghana to Mamelodi Sundowns of South Africa on November 19 in the 30 June Stadium.
Since the kickoff of this fantastic tournament, 14 games have been played, 34 Goals scored, which makes an average of 2.4 goals per game, and 22 different scorers have found the nets in the tournament.
What they said:
Clementine Toure
“I’m honored and I thank CAF for this first of its kind tournament. This tournament proves the huge awakening women’s football is having now in Africa”.
“Both of the finalists finished their group stage in the first place, so it will definitely be a strong final game”.
“I congratulate Wadi Degla for being a very good tactical team, their goalkeeper is on a very high level and is very experienced. They deserved to get further than the group stage, but if they continue playing like this, I’m sure they’ll be huge in the near future. In the game against Malabo Kings, they only lacked some experience. Their number 7, Jasmin Theresa, showed a very good quality”.
“The tournament’s level is great in general. All teams proved high physical and tactical levels. I want to mention Kenya’s Vihiga Queens as they played 3 defensively organized games”.
“Hasaacas Ladies managed to play each game according to their opponent. It’s a compatible team that has experience elements”.
“Mamelodi Sundowns has played as team for a long time now. They have great goalkeepers, there has been comments on their attacking performance, but they are great in general”.
“AS Mande won the experience from this tournament, they’ll need to work more on themselves. I wonder if it’s the pressure that kept them from winning, but I wish them all the best”.
“The final game of the first edition will be very tough and important, as both teams deserve to be in the final. There is an advantage for Hasaacas Ladies as Mamelodi Sundowns has some physical tiredness, but they still have their own winning strategy and two brilliant goalkeepers. On the other hand, Hassacas’ goalkeeper is a leader that guides the whole team. This is very good as we’ll see a very good final. I believe Hasaacas Ladies are the closest to the win”.
Sheryl Botes
“I was very impressed with Morocco’s ASFAR. Their offensive tactics and the way they play as a team and individually, they are brilliant and play very good football”
“Evelyn Badu is very intelligent for her age, she’s the link between all sides of her team. Defensively, she’s very smart and helps her team”.
“Andile Dlamini is a part of the national team, she’s a very good goalkeeper when it comes to penalty kicks. It was a key decision from Mamelodi Sundowns to bring two great goalkeepers, as Rabalao showed great performance as well”.
“The level of this tournament is very high, and it’s important to showcase this to the world. And a key to that is having experienced coaches that lead the teams, it’s not just about the physicality of the teams, it’s also about different strategies. The fact that we have this number of quality coaches says volume about this tournament”.
“There’s no good formula in football, on a matchday, everything can happen. It is about which players can apply the strategy along with the spirit and the will to win”.
“My money is on Mamelodi Sundowns to win the final”.