Zebras begin rebuilding exercise

The Group J match is a dead rubber after the Zebras crashed out of contention and the tie presents Mpote with an opportunity to kick-off the rebuild. Equatorial Guinea and Tunisia are the two teams that have qualified from Group J. Libya and Botswana are third and fourth respectively. The current generation of Zebras players has missed qualification for the AFCON in the last decade.

The consensus among Batswana is that Mpote needs new blood in his team. This to some extent explains why the coach has left out several players who have previously formed the core of his team. Some of these players are Moshe Gaolaolwe, Simisani Mathumo, and Segolame Boy who ply their trade at Township Rollers. The other notable absentee in the squad is Gaborone United (GU) goalkeeper, Goitseone Phoko.