National team shot stopper, Kabelo Dambe, has a big fight in his hands to reclaim his position as Township Rollers’ first choice goalkeeper.
Together with the duo of Mwampole Masule and Wagarre Dikago, Dambe finds himself playing second fiddle to young goal minder Keagile Kgosipula.
Following Dambe and Masule’s long absences due to injury, Kgosipula seized the opportunity and produced exceptional performances between Rollers’ goalposts to establish himself as a first choice keeper at the reigning BTC Premiership champions.
Kgosipula’s performances have even led to Rollers goalkeeper coach, Thabo Motang suggesting that the young goal minder might permanently replace the Zebras number one at the club.
Dambe now finds himself battling not only Kgosipula, but his team’s two other goalkeepers in a battle to claw his way back to the first team.
In fact, Dambe has not even made it into Rollers’ match day teams for their first two encounters of the season against Tafic and Black Forest, with Motang citing ‘tight competition for the position.’
Two games into the season, and there are already ominous signs that Kgosipula is not ready to relinquish the coveted number one jersey. So far, the former Kumakwane Checkers goalkeeper has conceded one goal against Tafic in a league opener before keeping a clean sheet against Forest in his second game.
‘’Kgosipula is doing very well at the moment. It came as a blessing in disguise for him when both seasoned goalkeepers were injured and he stepped up to the plate and proved he deserved the number one jersey,” Motang explained.
“Kgosipula has been sitting patiently on the bench biding his time. He worked hard to reach where he is now and it will only be fair for other goalkeepers to topple him with exceptional performance at the training ground. We can confirm that Dambe is back and healed, it is just a matter of fighting for his place in the first team,” Motang told Sunday Standard.
Motang said all his goalkeepers were aware that they would have to work extra hard for the first jersey. Motang said it was time for Dambe to prove his mettle as Botswana’s finest during this competitive era.
“It could be a wakeup call for Dambe to realise that youngsters are now challenging for his jersey. It is a very tight and healthy competition at Rollers goalkeeping department and Dambe has been working hard at training and needs to push harder for him to return to the first team. It is vital for him to prove himself as the national team jersey might also be in jeopardy if he stays out of action longer,” said Motang.
Meanwhile, the lanky Dambe made it to the final list of players that represented Botswana against Ethiopia in an Independence celebration match played at the National stadium in Gaborone yesterday.
