Teenage, Razor land at Zebras

Orapa United and former Township Rollers coach Mogomotsi “Teenage” Mpote is expected to be announced as Zebras caretaker coach by Botswana Football Association (BFA) this week. The former under 23 coach is expected to be assisted by another local Razor Tsatsilebe as they lead the Zebras in a 2019 Afcon qualifier against Angola next month. The experienced Mpote who has played for the likes of Miscelleneous and Tasc takes over from Major David Bright who was unceremoniously shown the exit at Lekidi recently. After a streak of mixed results and a drastic drop in the FIFA ranking, the veteran coach fell out of favour with his employers at BFA. The Zebras job happens to be one of the hottest seats in local sports with most of its occupants rarely finishing the rest of their tenure. Bright took over from controversial English coach Peter Butler. He was expected to reverse the fortunes of the national team by moving up in the rankings and qualifying for the 2019 Afcon finals. However, a predominantly ageing and uninspired squad did not help as the Zebras continued to decline. Meanwhile, the national team technical department seems to have been localised since Bright took over and now Mpote. The recently formed Botswana Football Coaches Association (BFCA) decried what they have viewed as favouritism towards foreign coaches. In a brief interview this week, BFA Chief Executive Officer (BFA) Mfolo Mfolo could neither confirm nor deny whether Mpote will be taking over as caretakers’ coach. The BFA secretariat boss said an announcement was likely to be made on the matter later this week. Meanwhile, the Zebras job has been linked to several names including former Bafana Bafana coach Shakes Mashaba and former national team and Serbian coach Jelusic Vaseline.