The Voice (Francistown)
Dubani-Wa-Dubani
11 March 2008
Francistown — Football fan Ian Khama will mark his inauguration with a mixture of sport and politics when a Brazilian select team takes on the Zebras as part of the celebrations to welcome the new President.
Brazilian Ambassador to Botswana Joao Inacio Padilha, announced details of the game to be played on 1 April at a press conference on Wednesday.
Speaking to Voice Sport at the Botswana Football Association home, Lekidi Football Centre, Padilha said: "I watched the team play Namibia in the COSAFA Castle Cup and the support was excellent. There is potential success for any team that has passionate support, and the public is very supportive of the Zebras. With such support, the team can only get better. It is the closeness between the players and the supporters that helps breed success, and I think it will work for your team."
The game is a result of a memorandum of understanding signed by the Botswana and Brazilian government to work together to develop not only football, but other sports as well.
Although national team coach Carlos Dunga will not lead the select side, nor will the likes of Kaka, Gilberto Silva and Ronaldinho be included in the squad, the team is likely to feature enough players who have either played for the national team or played in Europe.
"There will be enough there to give Batswana a taste of Samba magic," the Ambassador intimated. "The players who will make the team play for the best professional sides in the capital city, and are some of the best in Brazil. They are not in the national side simply because there are younger and better players coming through. But I can assure you, you will see some good football," Padilha added.
Quizzed on whether there will be more Brazilian teams to Botswana in the future, the ambassador responded, "It will depend on opportunities. If we get any opportunity to get a team to your country again we will take it, and I hope opportunities will come in the future, not just for football, but for other sports as well."
The game forms an additional link with the Brazilians after the Botswana national team went to Brazil for training camps and got to play against local clubs in 2005.
BFA president Phillip Makgalemele in thanking the Ambassador said: "Everybody in the world wants to play against Brazil, and for a country like Botswana to do so is a huge milestone."
He added that the game was a welcome addition to the Zebras build up to their campaign for the Africa Cup of Nations and World Cup 2010.
The last time the Brazil played a southern African country was in 1996 when they beat South Africa 3-2.
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