Moorosi Tsiane
THE national under-20 soccer side, Makoanyane XI, go into this afternoon’s COSAFA Cup clash with Botswana knowing that only maximum points will give them a chance of proceeding to the next stage of the tournament that is underway in Kitwe, Zambia.
Makoanyane XI head into the match on the back of a 4-0 drubbing by group leaders Zimbabwe on Wednesday.
The Bob Mafoso-coached outfit sit at the bottom of the group with just a point from their 1-all draw with Angola last week.
Mafoso told the Sunday Express that the Zimbabwe loss was only because his charges undermined their opponents.
“Our boys undermined Zimbabwe maybe because of their small bodies and by the time they realised that Zimbabwe was dangerous it was already too late,” Mafoso said.
“We conceded the first goal just 30 seconds before the break, the second goal came in the second minute after half time and that was when we just lost. The boys got desperate and lost concentration.”
Mafoso, who was the assistant coach to Leslie Notši last year when they lost in the final to South Africa, said they were still hopeful that they can advance to the next stage as best losers although it was no longer in their control.
“We can still qualify because one team qualifies in each group but they will be joined by the best losers. In our group Zimbabwe has already advance so our target now is the best losers spot and there are so many ifs for us to qualify. We just need to beat Botswana and ensure we score many goals,” he said.
For Lesotho to qualify, Zambia will need to beat Mozambique by three or more goals, Democratic Republic of Congo need to win or draw with Malawi.
Zimbabwe must also beat or draw with Angola while Lesotho must win at all costs by more than two goals without conceding.
Mafoso said the Zimbabwe loss was a lesson to his troops that they always have to work hard and stop undermining other teams.
“Teams are very serious here and we can’t afford to undermine them. I have watched Botswana and they are also good and very comfortable on the ball so it’s not going to be an easy task but I believe in my boys and hope they will do the job,” Mafoso said.
Comments are closed.