However, the most important element, even in any other sport, is psychology of all those involved in the game.

Thus, it takes a number of small, yet important things to psyche players to perform miracles in the field of play. Some of these may appear insignificant in that many took them for granted and underestimated their impact on the teams psyche.

Ever thought that just a piece of attire like a football kit can have such a huge influence on the performance of a team? When the Black Stars of Ghana lost a crucial Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) group stages encounter to the Warriors of Zimbabwe in 2006, the Ghanaians blamed the loss on the kit their team donned that day.

The kit was all black and one would have thought it fit to have the teams dressed that way given the derivative Black Stars and black as part of Ghana’s national colours.

However, when the Blacks Stars posted one of their worst AFCON performances the fans argued that naturally the colour black was a symbol of bad luck. Since 2006 they vowed to never wear an all-black kit again. In Zambia, former Chipolopolo coach, Herve Renard, always put on a white shirt and tight jeans. He believed the attire was his lucky charm, going on to win Zambia the 2010 AFCON finals.

Similarly, some Batswana believe that the local brand, All Kasi, is the Zebras’ lucky charm. They believe when the Zebras made history and scored firsts, being the first team to qualify for 2012 AFCON and going on to be voted team of the moment, it was all because of the All Kasi brand.

Zebras’ captain, Joel Mogorosi, conceded in an interview that when Botswana made history back in 2011, qualifying for AFCON for the first time, the team’s apparel was the All Kasi brand.

Mogorosi said the same magic played out at the new Francistown when the Zebras overcame one of Africa’s power houses, Burkina-Faso, 1-0 on Saturday (September 5).

He said even Batswana in general believe in the All Kasi brand and so were the players, adding that the brand would go in history books as the Zebras’ lucky charm.

“You see as players we want something that is very nice that gives us confidence. If you look at it, players want to look good in a good design kit, and what I can tell you, on Saturday we felt good in the All Kasi kit,” said the elated Mogorosi.

Duma FM sport presenter, Leatile Mmutle’s opinion was that such small things mattered a lot in sports. Anything that carried a positive element in sports, noted Mmutle, had a psychological effect on athletes.

“Even their design for the Zebras kit is superb.  It makes national colours come out prominently. When a player looks good in a replica jersey, their performance is highly likely to be enhanced,” he said about All Kasi.

Thuso Palai, another football pundit, said he was happy that the Zebras were back in All Kasi as it was a Botswana product that Batswana would want to showcase and promote the world over.

“And what better way to do it than using football. As for the win, I would say it is a just a coincidence. The way we played, we would have won even if we had worn nothing. But if indeed AK brings us luck and results, then I’m a happy camper,” he said. Ends