14 Mar 2018

 A moment during Township Rollers’ CAF Champions League first leg fixture against Young Africans in Tanzania depicted the huge potential Botswana club football has.

Over the years, domestic clubs and the national team have tended to struggle to make an impact on the continent, but the manner of Rollers’ winning goal against Yanga, as the Tanzanian side is known, showed a different side to the local game.

Twenty passes were completed before Motsholetsi Sikele slotted the ball past the opposing goalkeeper.

The fluid passing, the off the ball movement to receive the pass, the strength in keeping off challengers and the ability to switch play as shown by Maano Ditshupo’s cross field pass to Sikele, who then played on Joel Mogorosi before availing himself for that final pass, displayed huge confidence.

Having defeated 2015 Champions League semi-finalists Al-Merreikh of Sudan, 3-0 in Gaborone, before a brave performance in narrowly losing 2-1 away, Rollers had entered the Yanga assignment brimming with confidence.

But, having just come from a physically draining cup final win over Orapa United in Francistown just three days earlier, and having had to make the 430 km road trip back to Gaborone before embarking on the flight to Dar es Salaam, not many had expected Popa to play with such pomp.

Now, the Blues are on the brink of being the first Botswana side to play in the group stages of the CAF Champions League, which will mean being part of four groups of four teams each vying for a quarter-final berth.

There are other sides that have represented the country well in CAF club competition.  Gaborone United in 2010 knocked former African champions Orlando Pirates out of the Champions League before defeating Curepipe Starlight of Mauritius 6-0 on aggregate, 3-0 both home and away.

But the Champions League format of the time required teams which entered the competition in the preliminary round to play a third match, the second round proper, in order to qualify for the group stages, and GU lost that tie 4-2 on aggregate to Dynamos of Zimbabwe.

The group stage entitles a club to six matches, three at home and three away against the continental football elite, granting a club exposure to international audiences through satellite television.

The top two sides in each group reach the quarter-finals, the bottom two will exit the competition, but will still earn just half a million US dollars, US$0.55 million, about P5.2 million in current exchange rates. 

The national association is entitled to an additional equivalent equal to about five per cent of the prize money, which would be over P250 000 in current exchange rates.

But first, Rollers have to navigate the return leg.  The 2-1 win in Dar es Salaam still leaves the tie delicately poised. The match is still open, and the odds for a Tanzanian win remain large.

Yanga need a 2-1 win in Gaborone to force extra time and penalties, a two-goal margin win or more will be enough to see them through.  A 3-2 win will also see Yanga qualify on the away goal rule.

For Rollers, the permutations are such that any victory or any draw will see them through, as would a 1-0 loss, which would see Popa advance on the away rule. 

If Popa display the tactical discipline from the first leg, victory would be assured.

On Tuesday afternoon, Yanga arrived in Gaborone, a full four days before the game.

This underlines how serious they take the match.  Led by George Lwandamina, who was head coach of the national team in his native Zambia before joining Yanga in 2016, the Tanzanians are clearly intending a comeback.

Leaving nothing to chance, Rollers have declared “operation pack the stadium,” urging their supporters and other well-wishers to fill up the National Stadium on Saturday.  

Ticket prices for the south stand located on the side of the University of Botswana have been placed at just P10, grand stand tickets cost P60; Panda stand P40, while the north stand where many diehard Rollers fans sit cost P30. ENDS