02 Jul 2015

A fierce battle is expected when the senior national football team take on Lesotho in the second leg of the African Nations Championships (CHAN) qualifiers at the National Stadium in Gaborone this Saturday (July 4).

The duo played to a goalless draw in Lesotho a fortnight ago. The victor will play against the winner between Zimbabwe and Comoros for a place in the CHAN finals in Rwanda in January 2016.

Zebras assistant coach, Oris Radipotsane, said their goalless draw against Lesotho was a good result because they were playing away. He said although they missed a lot of scoring opportunities, they played well.

He said the team was ready for the game after beating Serowe Select Team 3-0 and Jwaneng Galaxy 5-1. Radipotsane said the Zebras were injury free.

“We respect Lesotho because they gave us a tough game in their home ground, but we have solved our scoring problem. We have also beefed up our squad by calling Lemogang Maswena, Tumelo Mazebedi, Olebogeng Malebjwe and Emmanuel Thakadu,” he said.

Lesotho coach Seephephe Matete said his team was under no pressure despite playing away from home. He said their key striker Thapelo Tlale, who was injured in the first leg, has recovered. 

He added that he would change tactics for this game.  He said pressure is on the Zebras because they want better results in front of their supporters. “As you know we have played against the Zebras several times. We know each other.  We know their strengths and weaknesses. We are going to capitalise on their weaknesses,” he said, adding that they are going to play a more relaxed game ENDS