19 Jun 2018

Botswana men’s football team got off to a disappointing start in the opening match of the 19^th Confederation of Universities and Colleges Sports Association (CUCSA) games when they were beaten 1-0 by Zimbabwe at the National Stadium yesterday.

Zimbabwe made their intentions clear from the first whistle forcing the local boys to defend deep within their half.

Botswana’s first chance fell at the feet of Ngwako Ramokgathadi who fired wide. 

The local team gave their opponents a chance when both the goalkeeper  Onalenna Gaborone and captain Nswazi Kemiso failed to communicate which left the defence in disarray leaving Siment Nyasha of Zimbabwe to slot the ball in.

After conceding what seemed like a sloppy goal, a seemingly disjointed Botswana side continued to struggle especially in terms of defending and holding onto the ball. Zimbabwe were almost two up when a routine long ball beat Botswana’s backline falling into the path of Zimbabwe’s marksman, Matshazi Thabiso who could not profit from the opportunity as his shot brushed the top of the bar and out for a goal kick.

Both sides failed to conjure up any enterprising play until the half time break.

From the interval it was the visitors again who were quick off the blocks as they took the game to the Zebras.

 Eight minutes into the second half Onalenna was forced to make an acrobatic save to deny Zimbabwe’s Makiwa Rowlany.

Botswana made changes to try to bring in fresh legs as they chased the game bringing in a more attacking Thupa Misani.

The substitute brought in a new dynamism in attack for the hosts as they started to look a better side in attack, but they just could not break the duck against a staunch Zimbabwe back line.

Zimbabwe were able to hold on to a slender lead as they walked away with maximum points to set them up to the top of Pool A.

In a post-match interview Botswana’s coach downplayed the dismal performance from the players, saying that they gave Zimbabwe a run for their money especially in the second half.

 “I believe we played well it is only that we were always chasing the game, their approach to the match was clearly similar to how we plotted against them, and luckily for them they capitalised on the cheap goal we gave away,” he said.

He remained confident that they would bag maximum points in the games to come against Lesotho and Namibia to solidify their chances for a spot at the semi-finals.

 “I have had only two weeks to prepare this team so our first game was always going to be difficult as players still have to gel in well together and work on combinations so I am positive that we will do much better in the games to come,” he said.

Botswana will face Lesotho on Wednesday. ENDs