The Zebras, who were the darling of Batswana not long ago, have gone for more than 15 months without winning a match in any official competition. On a crucial outing in Addis Ababa over the weekend, the Zebras run of poor results continued when they lost 1-0 to Ethiopia in a 2014 World Cup qualifier. The Addis meet was a must-win for the Zebras if our hopes of qualification should be kept alive. This is because we have managed just one point out of three matches in Group A, with the weekend loss relegating us to the bottom of the pile. The erstwhile Mighty Zebras are left with three matches, and the chances for progression to the next round in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers are next to nil. Winning all the remaining matches will garner us 10 points, but looking at how the team has been performing, it is a titanic task. But what went wrong with the team? This is the team that enjoyed the support of the first citizen basked in the goodwill of the nation. Big companies like Orange Botswana also showed commitment by coming on board with long-term sponsorship. Infact, so proud of the national team was Orange that the mobile phone service provider pledged to always be with the Zebras "through thick and thin".The renewal of the sponsorship was a symbol that indeed Botswana football was growing. Football fans also were behind the success of the team and demonstrated this turning up for matches in massive numbers. Zebras supporters' committees sprouted everywhere, boosting the morale of the team that fed the flames of patriotism.
In a highly innovative spirit, the committees mounted night vigils before international matches while creative musicians composed enthralling songs about their favourite team. UB Stadium, the humble venue, became the hunting ground for the galloping Zebras. Visiting foreign national sides, including the so-called celebrated African powerhouses, went as they had come: Empty handed. That was until the Zebras qualified for the 2012 African Nation Cup (Afcon) in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. That was where the performance of the Zebras took a knocking as "wallop" replaced "gallop" in a new diction of defeat. And they returned home shamefaced and empty-handed. Our Afcon debut has become a bad omen that is hounding us back to the status of the whipping boys of the African continent. The pre-Afcon 2012 odyssey and the night vigils are no longer there. The first citizen and ministers no longer meet the team upon its arrival at the airport. Coach Stanley Tshosane has clearly played his part, and Friends of Football-appointed president of Botswana Football Association (BFA), Tebogo Sebego, must do something.
