Botswana football teams started on a wrong foot at this year’s Confederation of University and Colleges Sports Associations (CUCSA) games after being defeated 1- nil by Zimbabwe.
The only goal of the game came in the 12th minute after Nyasha Siment found his way past the goalkeeper and rattled the nets. From then on, it seemed as a one sided affair as the local boys struggled for control for the entire duration of the match.
Botswana’s Coach Thato Buti said although they succumbed to Zimbabwe, his charges did very well as they played according to instructions. “The team played well. The opponents had the same strategy as us and my players failed to pick it quickly. My defense was not able to quickly match them. The problem was we failed to score our chances,” he said
However Zimbabwe coach, Joseph Michaels said it was a difficult game and he was happy that they managed to score early in the game. “Our strategy was to defend and keep the attacker at bay. We did not want them to score because it was going to make life difficult for us since they are the host. We played a slow game to frustrate the opponents,” he says.
Seven Countries form Pool A and B, and Botswana is in Pool A comprising of Lesotho, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Pool B is made up of South Africa, Malawi and Zambia. Botswana will play against Lesotho on Wednesday and go on to play Namibia on the 20th of June to finish off the pool stages.
On the women side, the ladies team suffered 3 nil defeat to South Africa side. BOTTESSA spokesperson Duncan Segabo said they are disappointed that the football teams have started poorly. Segabo said they expected football teams to win gold medals at the end.
Apart from this loss, BOTESSA management is optimistic that Botswana team will do well at the ongoing games. Botswana is hosting 19th Edition of the CUCSA games that will be played in five days for both outdoor and indoor sports under the theme #OnenessThroughSport. The athletes will participate in 10 various sporting codes around Gaborone with the single aim to be crowned the champions of the tournament.
