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Home crowd spurs Zebras on

29 Mar 2016

National team captain Joel Mogorosi saved the day for the Zebras as he scored a crucial goal on the 88th minute of the game to change the score board from 1-1 to 2-1 in favour of his team as they beat the rigid Comoros national team Sunday afternoon.

Zebras, which badly needed a win to remain competitive in the qualifiers, were trailing with a 1-0 away loss they suffered against the Comoros national side last Friday in that country.

This was a return game of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifier played in front of about 18 000 supporters who had thronged the Francistown Sports Complex tom rally behind their sides.
Although pressure was on Zebras’ coach, Peter Butler, to turn the tables around and get the coveted three points, his charges appeared unhurried to mollify him no matter how many scoring opportunities they created.

The industrious skipper Mogorosi, who was noticeably a lone forward most of the time, had to work harder as the support he needed from team mates upfront barely came by.
In the 43rd minute, the Comoros silenced the Zebras supporters as Mchangama Youssouf unleashed a thunder bolt from a considerable distance to score for the Comoros after catching Zebras’ goal minder Kabelo Dambe and his defence off guard.

After break, with the scoreboard still reading 1-0 in favour of the Comoros, Galagwe Moyana brought life on the ground as he scored an equalizer to revive the spirit of the team as well as that of the supporters. 
With mounting on the locals, and the zebras still not offering anything positive to show that they were playing for a win considering their rather below par performance, the crowd started calling for substitutions. 

 It was then that Thabang Sesinyi, Lemponye Tshireletso and Lemogang Maswena were seen warming up and soon Sesinyi came in for Arnold Mampori, although Coach Butler explained after the game that the change had nothing to do with performance, rather, it was purely a technical decision meant to revive confidence and push for another goal. 

He further explained that at break they had a serious talk for the team to pick their game and fight for a winning goal. 
And, with his experience coming in handy at the crucial moments of the game, Mogorosi picked his spot and headed home a winner after receiving an impressive cross from Galagwe Moyana, thereby making sure that the Zebras remained relevant in the qualifiers. 

Although they have registered a win, Mogorosi said later in an interview that that he was not happy that players were not given enough time to prepare for such crucial games. 
He said although they had now gained six points, they lost the most important game last week away to the Comoros.

“The loss was due to our lack of enough training because we had only one session before taking off to the Comoros,” he said, before appealing for support for the national team to be given priority when they have to play qualifiers although it is not stipulated in the FIFA calendar. Ends

 

Source : BOPA

Author : Goitsemodimo Williams

Location : Francistown

Event : Football match

Date : 29 Mar 2016