Rollers without Kovazovic for sink or swim CAF tie
Staff Writer | Friday August 17, 2018 12:24
Rollers tackle KCCA at the Nelson Mandela National Stadium tomorrow knowing acutely aware that any other result, besides a win, will mark the end of their interest in the competition.
However, they will have to do it without head coach, Kavazovic who has reportedly travelled to his home country on personal matters.
“Our head coach, Nikola Kavazovic has to attend to a family matter, and will be travelling home to Serbia today evening. He is scheduled to return back to Gaborone on August 27 before the CAF Champions League match against Esperance,” Rollers said on their Facebook page on Wednesday.
“Goalkeeper coach, Thabo Motang and assistant coaches, Leutlwetse Tshireletso and Marko Vasiljevic will take charge of our team during the head coach’s brief absence.”
A defeat or draw to KCCA will reduce Esperance’s visit at the end of the month, to a dead rubber.
Both Popa and KCCA only have three points from four games, with Rollers’ win against the Uganda side, coming on the opening day of the group stage matches in May.
This now appears ages ago since Rollers registered a win in CAF’s flagship competition. Successive defeats to Esperance, Al Ahly (twice) have followed, which has seen the domestic league champions fall out of the radar.
Even if they win tomorrow, Popa’s effort might come to naught if Al Ahly beat the already qualified Esperance in Tunisia.
Rollers are four points behind the Egyptian giants who play Esperance tonight. If Al Ahly win, they will take their tally to 10, with a superior head-to-head meeting against Rollers.
A few will, therefore, give Rollers a chance of progressing in what has been a tough debut in the group stages.
In March, Rollers became the first Botswana team to progress through to the group stages of the continent’s richest club competition.
But the going has been tough, with Popa scoring only twice and conceding eight times. Assistant coach, Tshireletso told the media that his side was ready to fight in Kampala.
Popa are fresh from a penalty shoot-out defeat to Gaborone United in last week’s Charity Cup.