Zebras host Tanzania in friendly
Thato Kala | Wednesday June 25, 2014 15:28
Botswana Football Association (BFA) chief executive officer Keith Masters said the Tanzanians who meet Mozambique in the qualifiers will play the Zebras in Gaborone on July 1.
The BFA is in the process of getting the green-light from the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC) to use the National Stadium for the match.
The Zebras’ home-based stars will regroup in Gaborone on Thursday next week to prepare for the qualifier against Guinea Bissau.
Zebras’ coach, Peter Butler had intended to have the players in camp earlier but some clubs reportedly refused to release their players saying that they are about to start pre-season training.
“We start on Thursday (tomorrow); we changed our plans because players were unavailable. They are on off-season with their clubs,” Butler said.
He is aware the game against Tanzania carries little significance with all his South Africa-based players out of the tie.
Tanzania beat Zimbabwe in the 2015 qualifiers’ first round to proceed to the next round where they taken on Mozambique who crushed first timers South Sudan.
The 14 teams that advanced from the first round will now meet in the second round over two legs from where the aggregate winners will join the group stage.
If the Zebras overcome Guinea Bissau, they join Tunisia, Senegal and Egypt in group G. The top two countries in each group, plus the best third place finisher, qualify for the 2015 AFCON to be held in Morocco.