Ghetto joy as Zebras claim rare win
The Zebra’s long-suffering fans were given a rare reason to smile on Saturday night as they watched their heroes beat Libya 1-0 in a nail-biter under the Francistown floodlights.
The victory came too little, too late to rescue Botswana’s already doomed AFCON 2023 qualifying campaign but was enough to see Teenage Mpote’s men swap places with their North African opponents at the bottom of Group J.
Although they rode their luck at times, Libya spurning two glorious opportunities as well as striking the bar, the result, gained with a youthful side boasting an average age of just over 26, will fill Mpote with belief as he builds towards future competitions.
The points were sealed on the stroke of half-time, Gape Mohutsiwa emerging the match-winner.
Timing his run to perfection, the 26-year-old ASO Chief midfielder burst into the box and showed great desire to get onto the end of Kabelo Seakanyeng’s curling cross. Catching the ball on the full and displaying the quality that earned him a move to Algeria, Mohutsiwa gave the Libyan keeper no chance with his fierce low volley.
He should have doubled his tally in the second half, but, with the goal gaping, directed his close-range header straight at the keeper.
Seakanyeng, who had an excellent game down the left, causing the Mediterranean Knights countless problems with his pace and trickery, also came close.
Forcing his way into the box, Seakanyeng, 29, chose power over precision, smashing a fierce shot into the side netting from a tight angle when he probably should have passed instead.
Against a better side, these misses might have proved costly.
However, the Libyans, who have scored just once in their five group matches to date – their only goal coming in a 1-0 win over Botswana in the opening match – looked to have left their scoring boots back home in Tripoli.
Playing some decent build-up football, Libya, ranked 31 places higher than the Zebras according to FIFA, carved out three golden chances for themselves but failed to test Lesenya Malapela with a single one.
The final whistle was greeted with a roar of pure delight from the home fans, many of whom ran onto the Obed Itani Chilume pitch to celebrate with the players.
It is the type of joy and good-feeling Mpote and his troops will be hoping they can create more often going forward!
They conclude their campaign in September with a tough trip to Tunisia, who suffered a surprise 1-0 loss to Equatorial Guinea at the weekend – a result which confirmed both nations qualification for Ivory Coast.
