Tsotso must remain grounded

Dennis Keagile | Friday May 23, 2014 17:14

His message was that no matter how successful you are, one should always  keep his/her feet firmly on the ground. He claimed he never read the headlines that talked of his success after a sterling performance on the field.

He talked of focus, focus and respect for teammates and opponents. This week we saw Mogakolodi ‘Tsostso’ Ngele grabbing the R200,000 Telkom player of the tournament award.

This is the same prize that Joel ‘Speed Fire’ Mogorosi won last year, just 12 months after making his debut in a professional league.

But my focus is on Ngele and I want to salute the boy for his super performance. From humble beginnings ‘Tsotso’ is gradually growing in stature.

I remember his former development coach and mentor, Matshidiso ‘Sexton’ Kowa saying that the best is yet to come from the player.

But like Maponyane says or as it is often said in sport, you are as good as your last game.

Ngele therefore ought not only to stay focused but to keep his feet firmly on the ground as he tries to be a legend.

He has age on his side and more importantly, a football brain. We can salute Kowa for the groundwork he did and for Sommerset Gobuiwang for convincing Platinum Stars to recruit the player.

His achievement will definitely act as a catalyst and inspiration to many budding soccer players in Botswana.

But without discipline and focus, Tsotso would not have come this far. I hope and pray that one day, he will honour his mentor, Kowa for he has always believed that the player is destined for stardom.

I want to urge Tsotso to work extra hard because this is just the beginning. He should immediately forget about the prize and shift focus to helping the Zebras qualify for the group stages of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations. We want him to be firing on all cylinders.

Perhaps one also needs to congratulate the South Africa Premier League for its professionalism in choosing winners. I think our own Premier League can learn a thing or two, especially about objectivity and professionalism in determining the winner.

 

Zebras

Well done to the Zebras for holding Burundi to a goalless draw in the first leg of qualifiers for AFCON 2015. This is a good result but at the same time a very dangerous one.

Only a win guarantees the Zebras a place in the next round while their opponents needs only a draw with scores to advance. Hence, in the second leg, the Zebras must be mean at the back and sharp upfront.

No stone should be left unturned in ensuring that the team wins and advances. The Botswana Football Association chief executive officer, Keith Masters together with his team will have to pull all the stops in selling this game so that the stadium can be filled to capacity.

The crowd will be a key factor in the return leg. The technical bench needs to work on the Zebras’ lack of killer instinct in front of goal and the leaking defence.

Before the first leg, the Zebras had conceded too many goals and scored very few. In Bujumbura, they managed to close shop but failed to breach the Burundi defence.

The signs are however there that we could qualify for the next stage. I therefore challenge the strikers and midfielders to give themselves a target of two goals each in the return leg.

No complacency whatsoever should creep in because memories of 1992 come to mind when the Zebras held Lesotho to a goalless draw away only to suffer a heavy defeat in Gaborone.

Lesotho had deliberately chosen a defensive approach in Maseru knowing very well that Botswana will open up in Gaborone and they hit us with four goals to nothing from counter attacks. Zebras will have to be worry of this scenario. It is not yet done but it is promising.

 

Baygoc

Good luck to the organisers of the Gaborone Africa Youth Games. Throughout the event, Botswana as country will be on trial; from hospitality to organisational ability and creativity.

Much has been said about the shortcomings of the organisers but now is the time for the team led by Tuelo Serufho and Regina Vaka-Sekalesele to prove all the critics wrong. The political will has been there and now it is time for the young athletes to do their part. Good luck to all.