Tshosane, Ramatlhakwana find joy in North Africa

| Friday June 7, 2013 00:00

 

Stanley Tshosane is undoubtedly battle hardened having endured a barrage of criticism. He might not have nine lives like a cat, but Tshosane has survived even after the ink had long dried on his football obituary.Now Tshosane finds himself with an impeccable record against North African giants, Egypt and Tunisia. On countless occasions, the Zebras have travelled North and returned battered. Even Jelusic Veselin, a coach who left behind happy hearts, found North Africa inhabitable. His formidable side, which included a swashbuckling Diphethogo Selolwane, a tough-as-teak Ernest 'Nansi le ndoda' Amos, the cultured left foot of Masego Nchingane and Tshepiso 'Sox' Molwantwa's raw goalscoring power, failed to conquer North Africa.

Veselin played Morocco and Tunisia, suffering back-to-back defeats despite a spirited fight.His successor, Colwyn Rowe, found Egypt a tough nut to crack, managing a 0-0 draw at home before suffering a 1-0 reversal in the cauldron of Cairo.

But Tshosane has effortlessly breezed past Tunisia and on Tuesday, ensured that he remains unbeaten against a North African opposition with a 1-1 draw against Egypt. Jerome Ramatlhakwana raced clear as early as the fifth minute after stealing an intended back pass to plant the ball in the back of the net. However, Egypt rallied back before half-time, but the Zebras held on to preserve Tshosane's good record against the Arabs.

While Tshosane has faced only two North African sides in what is becoming a lengthy reign, it is the manner in which he has managed to contain what are usually menacing sides. His best result is probably the back-to-back victories over Tunisia, a feat few coaches on the continent can only dream of.Tshosane's charges travelled to Tunisia to a muted send-off in July 2010, but Jerome Ramatlhakwana announced his intentions with a first half goal, which gave the Zebras a 1-0 win. Doubting Thomases were on hand to dismiss the win as a fluke. However, Tshosane showed why he should be regarded as a shrewd tactician when he floored the Tunisians in the reverse fixture played before a bumper crowd at the UB Stadium on November 17 2010.  Again it was Ramatlhakwana who caressed the ball home after Selolwane's jink past a defender before letting rip.

The Tunisia goalkeeper initially saved but Ramatlhakwana helped himself to the rebound to confirm his newly found magic for the North Africans.Tshosane, who has been consistently persecuted for his defensive 4-5-1 formation, made a solid argument that the type of players he had did not allow him to open up offensively.Against Egypt on Tuesday, Tshosane saw his boys open up more and Namibian based, Pako Lekgari proved solid at the back.

But while Tshosane will happily let his critics peruse his North African record, he will not be all too pleased to see them page his history against West African opposition. The coach has watched his charges suffer two horror defeats against Mali and Guinea.

Guinea deflated the nation's hopes with an amazing brand of attacking football which, at the end of 90minutes, left the score 6-1 in favour of the West Africans. This was a group match during the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals.Mali seemed to draw a lot of inspiration from the Guinea result as first, the Zebras were clubbed 3-0 in Bamako before a 4-1 humiliation in Lobatse in a 2013 AFCON qualifier. He has also suffered defeats to other West African countries, Togo and Ghana.

Tshosane's record against East, Central and COSAFA opposition is mixed. He has beaten Kenya, fell to Ethiopia,drew with South Africa, fell Chad while falling to the Central Africa Republic.His major worry heading into this weekend's World Cup qualifier against Ethiopia will be the winless streak stretching back to March 2011. The Zebras' last win in an official match came at the Stade Nacional in N'djamena under blustery conditions. Zebras' recent record (2003- ) against North African teams (includes international friendlies)