Heroes' welcome for Young Zebras

TSHEPO MOLWANE
Staff Writer | Wednesday August 8, 2007 00:00

 

The Young Zebras won in China despite a strong challenge from the hosts, Japan and Korea.  When the Botswana Defence Force (BDF) plane descended at the SSKA at around 11.25am, supporters clad in national colours went wild.

Among the prominent people at the airport to welcome the team were Director of Sports and Recreation, Falcon Sedimo, Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) chairperson Dorcus Makgato-Malesu and Botswana Football Association (BFA) vice president Matshediso Kowa.

 
The Under-23 coach David Bright told Mmegi Sport that they went to Asia with intentions to win the tournament. Though they were under no pressure, he said that it was important for his side to leave a lasting impression in China. The Young Zebras got off to a bad start when they lost 2-0 to China in the opening game last Wednesday.

This was sweet revenge for the Chinese team after the 4-0 loss to Botswana at the Sasol Eight Nations tournament in South Africa last month. 'We were tired in the first game after spending almost 24 hours travelling. We could not express ourselves well. We tried to postpone the game but to no avail as it was clear that the Chinese wanted revenge,' he told Mmegi Sport.

 
Bright asserted that talked to his charges after the defeat to China and they  recovered sufficiently to beat Korea 1-0 on Friday through Kaone Molefe's goal. The Young Zebras won the tournament when they proved the win against Korea was no fluke by overcoming highly-rated Japan 1-0 with Amos Godirwang scoring the goal. 'I told the players not to lose confidence and they responded positively. I

 was impressed by their performance in the last two games. The level of competition there was also high and we played before stadiums which were always 75 percent full,' he said. By yesterday, Bright and his technical team were still to sit down and decide the schedule for the upcoming Olympic Games' qualifier against Cameroon at the National Stadium in Gaborone.

The coach said they need to rest and recover from injuries and knocks they got in Asia. 'After a week, we'll have a clearer picture about our plans for Cameroon game,' he said. BFA has decided to give the players 60 percent of the $50,000 prize money as a way of thanking them for a job well done.