But when a repentant Rowe approached the player to come back to the Zebras' fold, he was snubbed. News from the Zebras' camp say Rowe had a change of mind after watching Moatlhaping score in the Olympic qualifier against Tunisia on Thursday. He named the player in his 19-man squad at the last minute. But a miffed Moatlhalaping replied with a put-down reportedly because the coach had mistreated him. Sources say when the player called from South Africa informing Rowe that his club Silver Stars had released him for the Burundi game, he was told not to bother. So when he landed in the country, he was not picked from the airport by the official Zebras' car.
Reports say he went to the team's camp and tried to shake hands with Rowe but the coach snubbed him. A demoralised Moatlhaping found solace in the Olympic team where he made the difference. Efforts to speak to the player proved fruitless while Rowe refused to talk to Mmegi Sport saying he is fed up with negative media reports. But sources say Rowe initially decided to punish Moatlhaping after he chose to go to Tunisia with the Olympic team instead of playing in the Zebras' frie-ndly game agai-nst Namibia last mo-nth.
