Zebras captain confident of victory

National football team coach, Peter Butler has expressed cautious optimism ahead of Zebras’ return leg encounter with Burundi set for June 1 at the New Lobatse stadium.

Zebras recently held Burundi to a goalless draw in their capital city Bujumbura. This experience only made Butler and his charges more fired up. He believes Burundi is absolutely beatable.

“We have to make sure we don’t concede and we have to be disciplined in our approach,” he told BG Sport this week. Butler has some respect for his opponents. “Burundi is a decent team,” he said, warning of the possibe difficulties that lie ahead. “We have to be realistic. We are trying to build something for the future,” he said. He rues the chances created but not converted in the first leg encounter.

“We could have won, my boys played according to instructions,” he said. Zebras assistant coach Keitumetse Pio Paul echoed the same sentiments. “The boys really fought very hard. We were all over them. We are trying to blend both young and old players. It takes time but we believe in these players.

They can do the job,” said the young assistant who has 15 years experience in the Zebras playing structures having played for both junior teams and the senior national team. Meanwhile, national team captain Joel Mogorosi said their biggest challenge was how to handle the pressure of a hostile environment.

“The stadium was full even when we did our warm-up they booed us. They tried to come to us in the first five minutes but we managed to contain them until we were settled. Then we created our chances but we did not convert them.

I accept this result considering that we are building a new team, which had less than five days together. What is important is that we be prepared and mentally strong.” He said their plan was to cut Burundi’s superior aerial strength. “They wanted to catch us on set pieces but we managed their height. Our defence played very well the inclusion of Edwin Olerile gave us a lot of stability,” he said.

The Zebras travelled to Burundi as underdogs despite being superior in both CAF and FIFA rankings. The Zebras are ranked 22 in Africa and 91 in FIFA while Burundi is number 38 in Africa and 125 in world rankings. The Zebras missed a lot of experienced and seasonal campaigners notably Mogogi Gabonamong, Jerome Ramatlhakwane and Phenyo Mongala among others but Butler has infused new and youthful faces like Lebogang Ditsile, Obonye Moswate and LeutlwetseTshireletso in his line up.

A win for the local lads in the return leg will see them proceed to the last round to face either Guinea Bissau or Central African Republic as they contest for one of the seven spots available.