A fortnight from now, on the 15th of November, Botswana Senior Men National Football teams, the Zebras, will clash with Mauritania in a crucial penultimate Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier.
For the Zebras, a win against Mauritania will seal their qualification for the continental football showpiece. Following the departure of head coach Didier Gomes da Rosa, all eyes will be on interim head coach Morena Ramoremoli to lead the Zebras to the promised land.
With the Ramoreboli’s charges facing Egypt in their last game of the qualifiers, the match against Mauritania is expected to bring pressure on both the coach and the players. Despite this being his first time with the Zebras, Ramoremoli is optimistic that his charges can and will be among teams competing at the Afcon finals in Morocco.
Given the short notice request he got to lead the team, the interim head coach has not had much time to spend with his team. The South African born Jwaneng Galaxy gaffer however says a sit down with the boys has helped him to understand them better.
“After being appointed I did more of an analysis and one-on- one meetings with the team. The feeling I got is that they want this and understand that to get to Afcon they need to work for it.”
“And I am happy that they are willing to do just that. It is at this stage that I am not going to coach the effort but to coach an individual to execute the tactics that one wants,” Ramoremoli commented.
The Zebras interim coach says the game against Mauritania needs the team to have a very strong mentality over tactics if they truly desire to qualify. “If we want to qualify, we should first see ourselves at the Afcon finals. This has to first start in our minds and the players need to understand the power of working together to attain this goal. Both the technical team and administrators have to also understand the importance of working together,” he said.
“We are at a stage where the nation comes first and we must make sure we prioritize and sacrifice ourselves for the nation. We need to give more than we usually give and double our efforts too. Going an extra mile is vital to ensure we get this qualification, overall, we need to be very very strong mentally.”
As the team preparations continue, Ramoremoli is calling out for support from the nation as this is crucial to enhance qualification chances. “There was a crowd at the national stadium celebrating and welcoming the Botswana Olympics team which took part in the Paris 2024 Olympics. That celebration showed that as a country we love to celebrate excellence. Thei is an opportunity for us to celebrate excellence with Zebras. I would really love to see all the supporters coming to the stadium in large numbers to make sure that they rally behind the boys and push them to attain this big target.
Nonetheless, he adds that his experiences from the Champions league and other Victories will come in handy. Stating that it is also good that the boys too have been tested and they are more than hungry to attain this victory.
Meanwhile, local football analyst Kagiso Kgaogano believes there is nothing special that can be done at this moment to prepare the team. Noting that, even pressure is not needed in this game despite how crucial it might be.
“As far as preparation is concerned, there was never any done regarding the AFCON 2025 campaign. That is why there have been a couple of changes in terms of how we play and our lineup. There is nothing special that I think we can do.”
“Maybe giving the coach a few days with the team ahead of the game will afford him a moment to have a conversation with the team, watch videos of the opponent together and plan ahead. The team needs to approach the game under no pressure, though a lot of emphasis should be put on winning,” he says.
Kgaogano said Ramreboli’s appointment will come in handy looking at the current crop of players coaches in the Premier League for the past 4 years. “He is the only coach who has been at a single team more than any of them, consistently winning and breaking records. He won the league back to back and qualifies for CAF Continental competition. He also has a good understanding of our players. His CAF experience can come handy at this crucial moment we find ourselves in,” he concludes.
To help the team preparations, the Botswana Football League (BFL) has postponed week six fixtures. “Considerations had to be made, on the one hand to disrupt a season that is clearly gaining momentum and is succeeding in bringing people fashionably back to the various stadia, and on the other hand, to put on our patriotic hats and afford our Senior National Team a clear and present opportunity to prepare for a match that could book our tickets to the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) in 2025.”
“In the public interest, Match Day 6, which was scheduled to be played on the weekend of 9-10 November 2024, has been postponed. Match Day 6 shall now be played on the weekend of 4-5 January 2025. We call on the nation at large to rally behind the mighty Zebras in their quest for a successful campaign, and that includes selling out Obert Itani Chilume to afford the team a fighting chance towards AFCON qualification,” the circular further states.
Over and above urging the public to rally behind the team and give them their outmost support as Botswana comes first.
