Mpote bemoans ‘pathetic’ first half
Chakalisa Dube | Monday August 29, 2022 16:00
The tournament will be played next year after the CAF schedule was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Zebras were nearly outclassed in all departments on Saturday in a first leg CHAN qualifying clash played at the Obed Itani Chilume stadium.
Even Mpote admitted that his side was pathetic on the day. Zebras, who are now in a very precarious position, will be away to Madagascar on Friday in the second leg, with the overall winner assured a place at the CHAN tournament in Algeria. “We are going to Madagascar, which will be very challenging but I still believe that we can fight and win. Remember that we did not score against Eswatini at home in the previous round. We played them away and scored twice. It was tough today but we will work on our mistakes. We also conceded a silly goal,” Mpote said in a post-match interview. Mpote also emphasised that there are several things that his side has to work on ahead of the second leg.
“The ball retention after losing possession was so pathetic. We had one or two chances to convert but we failed to capitalise. In football if you do not take your chances you can’t win matches. We have to work on scoring,” he said. Mpote added that the build up from his side was slow because of the poor transitional play by his players. “Most of the time my players received their balls facing their goals. The second half was better although they were not decisive in terms of decision making.
It is something that we will try to perfect going to the second leg,” he explained Madagascar coach, Nicolas Dupuis told a post-match press conference that going into the second leg, his mission will be to ensure that his players maintain the same standard and resilience they showed on Saturday.
“The Zebras are a good side. It is important that we remain focused in the second leg if we want to seal qualification. There is no room for complacency,” he said. On the day of the match, the Botswana Football Association (BFA) had banned football activities (within its structures) around the country in order to drum up support for the crucial encounter.
However, only a few spectators turned up for the match. The attendance of national team matches in Francistown has been very low this year, which is totally against the trend. Madagascar found the decisive goal in the 18th minute when Razanakoto Tsilavina rounded the Zebras goalkeeper Goitseone Phoko before firing the ball into an empty net. The visitors did have a few chances to score but they were let down by poor finishing. Zebras never really looked threatening for the entire match.