Moloi, Maposa speak ahead of COSAFA Cup

THATO KALA
Correspondent | Friday October 16, 2009 00:00

Moloi said the Zebras should forget about last month's controversial trip to China where they lost 4-1 and go to the COSAFA Cup with a positive mind. 'We are going to Zimbabwe as a unit. We should put whatever happened in the past at the back of our minds. We want to go there with positive minds and be able to come out with positive results.

We want to put back smiles on Batswana's faces,' said Moloi, who scored his first goal for Bay United a fortnight ago. He warned his teammates not to underrate the other countries in their group.

The Zebras are in Group B with the Comoros, Swaziland and the Seychelles. Group A is tough as is consists of Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mauritius and Lesotho.

Comoros are ranked by 200th by FIFA while Seychelles are 178th with Swaziland at position 156. The Zebras are ranked 132nd. 'We're basically venturing into an unknown territory so we can't afford to underestimate any of those teams because we do not know them. Personally, I've never seen any of those teams play lately. We're going to take the games seriously. We have a job to do,' Moloi told Mmegi Sport.

His teammate, Maposa, believes the Zebras are in a tricky group because they have not seen their opponents' play. 'I don't underrate any of the teams in our group because we know little about them. So we have to really work hard and get results on the field.

We can't keep saying they are weak teams. We have to play first and then say they are weak after progressing to the next stage of the competition,' said the former Mochudi Centre Chiefs' goalkeeper.

'It is an honour to play for the national team and if given a chance, I will give my best. I know it won't be easy (to win a starting place) because there's Botlhe (Moralo) so I am here to compete for a starting place.'

The Zebras were not seeded in the tournament because of their position in the FIFA rankings and will play in the preliminary rounds. The group winner goes through to the quarterfinals to join Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Angola, Namibia and Zambia.

The Zebras will be hoping to post positive results after the embarrassing 4-1 loss in China recently.