Benchwarmers carry the Olympic dream
Kabelo Boranabi | Friday November 13, 2026 10:32
His concerns emerged following the Young Zebras' 1-0 defeat to Guinea in the first leg of the second round of the 2027 Africa Under-23 Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers, played at the National Stadium on Wednesday evening. Mohamed Touré struck shortly before halftime to hand the West Africans a valuable advantage heading into next week's return leg in Conakry. However, beyond the disappointing result, Mogaladi painted a troubling picture of the local youth football landscape, revealing that his squad largely comprises reserve players who struggle to secure regular appearances for their respective Premier League clubs. 'Our team is not a team of Premier League starters.
We are just playing with reserves, and some do not even make match-day squads at their clubs. This is why we are struggling,' Mogaladi said. Sounding the alarm over the country's football development structures, he highlighted that the situation presents a serious threat to the country's long-term football ambitions. This he said this particularly as the Under-23 side is expected to provide the foundation for the senior national team in the coming years. 'But I believe these are the players we should play in our respective clubs because if we do not, we are set for problems,' he warned.
Mogaladi stressed that while the senior Zebras continue pursuing their continental ambitions, equal attention must be given to developing the next generation of players capable of sustaining the country's progress. 'The Zebras are in Uganda. If they qualify for AFCON, it will be a qualification for these young guys. They are the players for tomorrow, so we need to play them,' he said. Meanwhile, Wednesday's defeat exposed several technical shortcomings, particularly in midfield, where Botswana struggled to match Guinea's physical presence. Mogaladi admitted that his preferred midfield options were disadvantaged by their smaller stature, making it difficult for the Young Zebras to compete in physical duels and win second balls.
'You know the best players I can use in the midfield are short. Today they were struggling, and that affected us a lot,' he explained. 'We are a nation of people who do not grow that tall. We will try to give them all aspects they can use because the weapon we can use with short players is to keep the ball more, but still that is where we had problems.' The coach was particularly concerned about his team's inability to recover possession and compete for second balls, describing the weakness as a crisis requiring urgent attention.
'We were not even going for second balls, and when we attempted, we were defeated easily. We were not winning the duels, and it is a crisis. We would need to address it,' he said. Furthermore, Mogaladi acknowledged that defensive errors contributed to Guinea's decisive goal, arguing that his players failed to apply basic defensive principles. He explained that the defender involved should have guided the attacker away from danger rather than attempting to win possession, a decision that ultimately exposed the team's defence.
'Winning the ball does not necessarily mean you are defending. We did not apply that principle, so I should go back and work on this so that psychologically our players know that winning the ball is not the only way of defending,' he said. Despite the shortcomings, Mogaladi defended his players' commitment, insisting they had given everything against difficult opposition. 'We lost, and this game has taught us a lot of things. It was a tough game. The truth is our players did all they could to win the match. The technical team also tried,' he said.
'I want to applaud the boys. The team played better even though we could have scored one or two goals with the chances we had towards the end of the game.' The Young Zebras now face an uphill battle when they travel to Conakry for Tuesday's return leg, where they must overturn the one-goal deficit to keep their qualification hopes alive.
The winner of the tie will advance to the third and final qualifying round scheduled for March 2027, with the eventual qualifiers progressing to the Under-23 AFCON finals, which will also serve as Africa's qualification pathway to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games.