The coach was speaking after the Young Zebras crashed out of the last stage of the qualifiers for the All Africa Games (AAG) yesterday after losing 2-0 to South Africa in Gaborone. In the first leg, the Dream Team were beaten 2-0 by the Amaglug-glug and the Gaborone defeat completed a 4-0 aggregate win for the South Africans. After the AAG dreams went up in smoke, the Young Zebras must now concentrate on the qualifiers for the 2008 Olympic Games where they made history by sailing to the group stages.
Bright said his team needs a very good planning to prepare for the Olympic campaign. "They (the Under-23 side players) have to play a number of friendly games against tougher opponents," he said. Ahead of the qualifiers, the Under-23 tactician pointed out that the Young Zebras have to reinforce the goalkeeping and striking departments to avoid problems when some players are unavailable.
The team that lost to the Amaglug-lug was missing key players in goalkeeper Noah Maposa and striker Jerome Ramatlhakwana. Botswana will know which countries they will face in the Olympic qualifiers when the draw is done tomorrow in Zurich, Switzerland.
After yesterday's game, Bright said that they lost to a better team which had a number of professionals. "We tried our best and created chances but luck was not on our side," he said.
