The Zebras-Mambas game will be played at the Secunda Stadium on July 27 at 5.30pm. The Zebras got a bye to the quarterfinals of the regional competition as one of the six seeded countries, according to April FIFA rankings. The other seeded countries are South Africa, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and Angola. After the draw, Zebras coach, Stanley Tshosane, said that at least this time round when they meet the Mambas, they know what to expect. He pointed out that though the Mambas would not have most of their professionals, they expect a tough game. He believes the Zebras will be equal to the task as they want to proceed to the next round of the competition. "We have to win so that we can play more games in preparations for the remaining qualifiers (2010 World Cup/African Nations)," Tshosane said. Last month, he led the Zebras to a meritorious 2-1 win against the Mambas in his first assignment in the qualifiers.
It was the teams first win after a string of poor performances under the now sacked coach, Colwyn Rowe. After the defeat in the qualifiers, the Mambas are likely to come into the COSAFA game with revenge in mind. The loss did not go down well with the spectators who came in numbers as they believed that their side is superior than the Zebras. Some even threw missiles into the ground and bayed for the blood of their coach. The Zebras have met the Mambas twice in the COSAFA Cup and lost all games. Their first-ever meeting was in January 1998 and the Zebras lost 2-1 with Tshepiso 'Sox' Molwantwa scoring the only goal. In May 1999, Mambas thrashed the Zebras 2-0. All games were played at the National Stadium in Gaborone.
