Mangolo, Setsile, Kgaswane miss Morocco flight
Mqondisi Dube | Monday December 1, 2025 06:00
Zebras coach, Morena Ramoreboli, on Tuesday announced his final squad but the talented trio could only make the reserve list.
Kgaswane's talent is undoubted, but he has never made the Zebras shirt his own, whilst Mangolo enjoyed a run in the team before securing a move to Tanzania and later to the South African Premiership.
On the other hand, Setsile has been in and out of the team, and recently secured a move to the Libyan league.
Kgaswane is still GU's driving force, whilst Mangolo has been frozen out of the starting line-up at Richards Bay.
Ramoreboli could only find space for the three on the reserves list, with their participation now in doubt.
The coach told MmegiSport on the sidelines of the squad announcement that the technical team's decision was based on form, experience, age, and previous performance.
He said the players making the reserve list mean they are good.
'Those are players we felt have been doing well and if we were to consider them, it was going to be easier for us to just say, ‘these are the people who can come in, add value and do the business for us’.
'But at the end of the day, we had to choose players who we feel can go out and represent the country,' Ramoreboli said.
The team will undergo intensive training after clubs agreed to take an early break from domestic action to allow players to join up with the national team.
Local sport journalist, Duncan Kgangkenna, is surprised by the exclusion of Kgaswane and Mangolo.
'We know there has been tension between the players and some coaches, and it seems that could be the reason they were left out,' Kgangkenna said.
'It now looks like a case of coaches fighting players, even carrying (sic) issues from club level into national team decisions,' he added.
He said it was high time the Botswana Football Association employed full-time national team assistant coaches.
'Right now, it feels like some of them give priority to their club players when selecting the national squad. For example, (Thabo) Motswagole is a young, promising goalkeeper and it is confusing why he has not been selected,' Kgangkenna said.
'It gives the impression that assistant coaches are more focused on club interests than choosing deserving players.'