Zebras receive rave reviews despite exit

OWEN SIBANDA
Correspondent | Wednesday October 28, 2009 00:00

 

It has been a worthwhile 10 days for Botswana in the COSAFA Cup and after being knocked out by the hosts on Monday, the Zebras walked away with praises from Zimbabweans.

They lost the match 1-0 after conceding an 88th minute goal through midfielder Mthulisi Maphosa who scored from a corner. The Zebras came as one of the dark horses in the competition and when they drew 0-0 against the Comoros in their opener, all eyes were on them failing to make the quarterfinals. However, they dismissed Swaziland 1-0 and Seychelles 2-0 to top their group and qualify for the quarters.

The exploits of Pontsho and Dirang Moloi were there for all to see. The gangly captain, Mompati Thuma led with ease from the back, Noah Maposa was the able commander, Malepa Bolelang and the rest of the team kept the crowd at Barbourfields on their feet.

After the Monday match, some supporters who saw the Zebras tear the formbook against the Warriors had this to say.Nkosana Moyo: 'They played better than us, they were more organised and could string passes together without using long and high balls.'Freedom Manjengwa: 'They have improved, we just survived by chance, otherwise they are better now.'

Kennedy Ndebele, chairman of the Local Organising Committee: 'Their game has improved tremendously and it will not be a surprise if they qualify for the AFCON finals in 2012 ahead of us.

'They have benefited from foreign coaches and the resources available to them. But at the same time, it shows that Botswana has caught up with us that is why we (Zimbabwe) are out of the AFCON finals next year and the World Cup like them'.Eddie Nyatanga Zimbabwe National team supporters member:

'They have improved, but we have the experience at this level that is why we beat them. But we did not play well, we need to improve if we are to beat South Africa in the semi-finals'.Zimbabwe has exported a number of coaches to Botswana among them, Willard Khumalo, Rahman Gumbo, Barry Daka and Madinda Ndlovu.

Even the Warriors coach, Sunday Chidzambwa seemed shocked at the high level of performance by the Zebras.'A game of football is played by 11 men against 11 men and that is what we saw today. To be honest, Botswana actually surprised me with the way they played. They had a good day and they did not allow us to create many scoring chances and we needed lady luck to get that goal. I want to congratulate Botswana for a good game even though they lost that is part of the game of football,' he said.

'It was a very tight game, Botswana surprised me, they put up a good show,' said Chidzambwa who is regarded as the most successful soccer coach in Zimbabwe. Stanley Tshosane, the Botswana coach said he was happy with the way his boys performed. There were solid performances at the back for the Zebras with captain, Thuma, named man-of-the-match.