21 Jul 2022

Botswana will play eSwatini in a TotalEnergies African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifier at Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown tomorrow.

In an interview, the senior national football team coach, Mogomotsi ‘Teenage’ Mpote, said The Zebras were ready to take on eSwatini.

Mpote said they would not rely on the recent Hollywoodbets COSAFA Cup where they defeated eSwatini 2-0 in the competition’s plate semi-finals.

“We are going to use the same youthful squad that we used in Durban, but we will also add at least three experienced players to boost the team. We are aware that eSwatini would be looking to avenge the loss. But we are looking forward to do well in the game so that we do not have much work against them in the next leg,” Mpote said.

The CHAN qualifiers will run until September. Winners of the second round will play in the final showpiece slated for Algeria January 8-31 next year.

Meanwhile, Mpote said he was happy with his players’ performance at the COSAFA Cup, despite coming back from the competition empty-handed.

The youthful Zebras left a mark after making it to the tournament’s plate finals where they lost 1-2 to South Africa’s Bafana Bafana.

At the Hollywoodbets COSAFA Cup, the Zebras were in Group A with Angola, Comoros and Seychelles and won 1-0 against all the three.

Such performance, Mpote said, was commendable given that they had a target to at least reach the quarter finals.

“There is a lot to talk about concerning the players’ performance. When we left Botswana, we did not have a plan on how to progress in the tournament. We were also told by the association to enjoy our game. But as the technical team, we gave ourselves a target of making it to the quarter finals,” he said. 

Such target, he said, was for the players to gain experience and exposure.

Mpote said they also set a target to advance further in the tournament and finish at least in the top six so that they could start competing in the quarterfinals in the next edition.

“I am happy we managed to attain that. Generally as the technical team we have achieved our target of making it to the top six. So we must applaud the players of their hard work and resilience,” he said.

About the youthful squad, Mpote said the decision to choose younger players was to look beyond 2024.

“Our thinking is that should Botswana and Namibia win the bid to host AFCON 2027, we should have a formidable side that will fully compete. We have talented players and we believe they can also perform well in other international games,” he said. ends