Young Zebras plot National Elephants take down
Having swept aside the Seychelles in the first round of the U/23 AFCON qualifiers, the level of opposition steps up significantly for the junior Zebras, who now face Guinea for a place in the final qualifying stage.
To give themselves the best chance of getting past the West Africans, Coach Michael Mogaladi and his team went into camp on Monday ahead of the all-important opening encounter on 11 November.
Against the Seychelles a month ago, Botswana’s young guns were good value for their win, twin 2-1 triumphs securing a 4-2 aggregate victory over the tiny island nation. With no Seychelles stadium meeting CAF standards for a match of this magnitude, both games were played at the National Stadium.
This time, however, the youngsters will have to travel for the return fixture, set for 17 November in Guinea, placing even moreimportance on next week’s first leg.
Nicknamed the National Elephants, the Guineans, who received a bye in the first round,are famed for their physicality and quick-transitions, something Coach Mogaladi has drilled into his troops.
“We are going to ensure that our boys know the stakes are higher than before hence they need to be strong and rotate the ball quicker so that they become more superior than the opponents. I played against Guinea National Football Team during my time, they are physical and also skillful thus they can hurt us. However, we are more than ready for the challenge,” maintained the 44-year-old former Zebra, who turned out for Mochudi Centre Chiefs and Maritzburg United during his stellar playing career.
Mogaladi added it is vital his players are switched on for the full 90 minutes, noting defensive lapses in concentration cost them against Seychelles.
“We have identified that we struggled defensively against Seychelles. Our plan is to instill discipline on the boys; when they lose the ball in the offensive areas they must immediately track back to ensure that we do not concede. In addition, concentration lapse is one of the key areas we need to work on; as you remember that we conceded from a throw-in and that is absurd. We also need to compact our midfield to avoid giving opponents space to punish us,” shared the recently appointed young Zebras boss.
The tactician will also use the camp to work on fitness, with most of the 26-man squad seeing precious little playing time for their clubs.
“To be honest, a few of my key squad members are playing merely as substitutes at their clubs while others have been reduced to being bench warmers entirely. That makes my life difficult as I am trying to build a match-fit team that can qualify,” gripedMogaladi, whose team do not have to look far for inspiration, with the senior side famously getting the better of Guinea in a World Cup qualifier in Francistown in November 2023.
In a bid to get bums on seats and make the most of home support, the BFA have set ticket prices at P20 for the open stands and P30 for the grandstand.
Although he insisted his side will not alter their core tactics between the two legs, Coach Mogaladi called on the public to turn up in their numbers and back his boys as they look to progress to the third and final qualifying round.
“Football does not change regardless of whether you are playing at home or away. Success comes down to sticking to the game plan of attacking and defending well. However, playing at home provides an extra advantage, one we plan to fully exploit in front of the home fans!” he declared.
The draw for the third round is still to be made; for now, though, the focus is fully on Guinea, as the young Zebras look to take another step closer to Egypt 2027, where eight teams will battle it out for African glory as well as a place at the 2028 LA Olympics.
