11 Jul 2023

The Zebras and their coach, Mogomotsi Mpote have a mountain to climb to be able to proceed to the next round of the ongoing HOLLYWOODBETS COSAFA Cup tournament.

They face what seems to be the toughest test as they go head to head with the Brave Warriors of Namibia in a Group A fixture to be played at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa July 11 at 6pm.

The Zebras, who lost 1-2 against Bafana Bafana on July 8, are in second spot of the log, a point behind South Africa, tied at three points with third-placed Sihlangu Semnikati of eSwatini and leading fourth-placed Namibia with two points.

Proceeding to the next round of the tournament would require that Mpote tries every trick in the book to beat the Brave Warriors and hope that Bafana Bafana lose or play to a draw against eSwatini.

In an interview, Mpote said their aim was to fight in order to win and accumulate six points and proceed to the next round of the tournament.

“We will see the results of the game between eSwatini and South Africa, but we are only focused on our game and we will do our best to win. Winning against Namibia will put us in a better position to proceed to the next round,” Mpote said.

As the pressure mounts on the players, a pep talk with them remains the only remedy to gain composure and confidence ahead of the encounter so that they avoided a loss, which would ultimately see them booted out of the tournament.

“I have already talked to the players to desist from making calculations but stick to the game plan. Namibia are not a closed book to us and we know where to destabilise them and deny them a chance to play and where to exploit to get goals,” he added.

The Zebras would go into the field without a red-carded Tebogo Kopelang, but Mpote was confident that players on the line-up would work the magic and do what they normally do with the Brave Warriors given their unbeaten record in their past several games having registered wins and draws against the their opponents.

A peek into the Zebras versus Brave Warriors encounter by RB2 Sport presenter, Solomon Kakuwa who is with the team in Durban, declares today’s game an armoured one, nit-picky and critical.

“Today’s game is not in the hands of the Zebras to decide their fate because the group is open for all the three teams. What is important is for the Zebras to win against Namibia so that whatever happens on the other side would not completely knock them out of the competition,” Kakuwa said. ENDS