18 Jul 2017

The empty seats at every stand were visible this time around as Zebras battled it out with Bafana Bafana of South Africa on CAF’s fifth African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2018 at the Francistown Sports Complex on Saturday.

The senior national football team often plays to a full house Francistown Stadium with roars of cheers, applause and choirs but on Saturday, the mood was sombre as a Bafana Bafana  beat Zebras  2-0 on the CHAN Southern Zone’s match 13 first leg.

Though, they lost the match, the Zebras started the game a better side, moving forward well and launching coordinated attacks on their sworn enemies.

There were plenty of ball supplies going forward coming from Mosha Gaolaolwe and from the left flank, from Thabo Leinanyane.

On the 10th minutes, a corner kick from Riyaad Norodien to Mothobi Mvala was superbly saved by Zebras keeper, Mwampule Masule.

The zebras attacks on the first 10 minutes were consistent, but the Bafana defence was intact.

They had the towering Sibusiso Khumalo and captain, Mario Booysen at the back to thwart all Botswana’s attempts. The hosts’ attempts at goals were spot-on but the goals were simply not forthcoming.

The Zebras had a chance at goal on the 20th minute when a good pass from Richard Legwaila missed the back of the net by a whisker. With Setsile having switched flanks, from left to right to assist the on-form Moyo, the zebras had their opponent at the palm of their hands.

The feared Norodien who scored against Botswana during their 2-0 win at the COSAFA had been neutralised by captain, Simisane Mathumo.

All that zebra’s hardwork went to waste when on the 27th minute Kaizer Chiefs striker, Ryan Moon, after easily breaking past the opponent’s defence, beat Masule with a  grass cutter to the far right corner of the net to give South Africa a lead.

The two teams went to recess with the visitors leading the host by a solitary goal.

The second half saw newly installed coach, Major David Bright substitute Moyo for Thabang ‘Gaucho’ Sesinyi and then Thero Setsile for Lemponye ‘FC’ Tshireletso.

Tshireletso’s entrance seemed to raise the junior players morale as he guided and led all attacks henceforth against Bafana Bafana.

On the 62nd minutes, South Africa substituted midfielder, Jamie Webber for Mamelodi Sundowns striker, Bonginkosi Ntuli. Zebras pulled out Kabelo Seakanyeng for Tapiwa Gadibolae.

On the 72nd minutes, an error by the zebras defence led to back to back passes between Alexander Coal and Gift Motupa led to a second goal netted in by  Motupa, to give South Africa a further 2-0 lead over the local lads. In a post-match interview, Bright said his charges played much better and possessed the ball well but had to work on the central defence.

He emphasised that it was crucial to come up with a strong senior national team and that for his next leg, he would beef up the squad with at least two senior players.

On the other hand, the Bafana Bafana’s coach, Stuart Baxter was pleased with the way his players executed the game plan, saying they wanted goals and they got them.

He noted that he might change the current squad again going into the second leg next weekend, saying that his change of team squad was in no way meant to undermine the CHAN tournament but to give  youngsters some chance to play.BOPA