A win would see the Zebras advance to the knockout stages of the annual tournament for the first time. The Zebras got off to a bad start on Saturday when they lost 4-1 to Zambia. But the team redeemed itself admirably to trounce Namibia 2-1 in the second match on Monday afternoon.
The win put the Young Zebras back in the race for a semi final berth. Reports have it that against Namibia, the Zebras was a completely different side to the one embarrassed by Zambia.
This afternoon, the Young Zebras know that it is a do-or-die battle if they are to get a historic semi-final place. Coach Sthanda Mogwadi told Mmegi Sport yesterday that they are ready for the Malawi clash.
“The confidence is back in the team and I’m confident that we’ll give a good account of ourselves,” he said. He pointed out that unlike the Zambia clash, they had enough pre-match warm-up on Monday before meeting Namibia and hence they managed to win.
In today’s clash, the Young Zebras will once again pin their hopes on Mosimanegape Ramohibidu, Betsho Pius, Dirang Moloi and goalkeeper Noah Maposa.
Against Zambia and Namibia, Maposa put up a brave performance and he will once again be the key man with his timely saves. Overlapping defender Ramohibidu has had a good tournament so far and it came as no surprise when he netted one of the Young Zebras’ goals against Namibia.
At the time of going to press, it was not clear whether injured skipper, Moemedi Moatlhaping would be fit to face Malawi.
Moatlhaping was not part of the team, which beat Namibia. Another player who was to pass a late fitness test is Bobo Motlhalane.
The nippy defensive midfielder picked up an injury in the battle against Namibia. “I hope that they’ll be ready for the game,” said Mogwadi.
BMC defender Tumisang Sekanonyane will be serving his last suspension after being sent off against Zambia. If the Young Zebras go through, Sekanonyane will feature in the semis.
This does not mean that the Malawians should be written off. Malawi go into the game knowing what is at stake as they are also fighting to reach the last four.
The Malawians were unfortunate to draw with Zambia after leading for most part of the game.
It will be interesting to see how they fare against Botswana. Group B is wide open and any of the four teams can make it to the semis.
However, the Zebras’ bid is not helped by the number of goals the teams have conceded.
