Botswana’s national Under 20s dream of advancing to the semi-finals of the COSAFA tournament was put to a halt on Friday, following torrential rains in Johannesburg.
Botswana was playing against Lesotho in a do or die encounter before the rain made the pitch unusable.
Botswana had to win the game by at least three goals provided Lesotho did not score. This is due to the fact that rivals Zimbabwe already have four points and five goals while Botswana has only a point and two goals.
Lesotho, on the other hand, is playing the game just as a formality because the results do not mean anything on their side. Win or lose, they just have to make their trip back home.
Before the rain, Botswana was already leading by a solitary goal. At the time of going to press, it was not clear when exactly the game would be played because it was still raining.
Botswana showed commitment of winning the game from the onset. They attacked Lesotho from all angles with Mogakolodi ‘Tsotso’ Ngele being the main upfront. He is the one who converted a penalty for Botswana after Lesotho defenders committed a blunder inside the box.
Lesotho in turn missed a penalty that could have levelled matters. After that, it was almost a one-sided affair before the rain disrupted the game. The assistant coach of the Young Zebras, Teenage Mpote, was optimistic for Botswana to convincingly beat Lesotho and advance to the next stage. He said from the Zimbabwe game, Botswana played much better. Botswana is looking forward to redeeming their image through this tournament because they have failed in the past.
The tournament has been dominated by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Zambia for some time.
The disappointing factor about this year’s tournament is that some teams could not make it and for that matter they gave short notice while the preparations were still on-going.
