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Botswana: Is Chiefs Invincible?
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
OPINION
12 March 2008
Posted to the web 12 March 2008
Boitumelo Khutsafalo
English Premier League side, Arsenal did it in 2003-2004 season. Egyptian giants, Al Ahly did it in 2004-2005 without a loss. But locally this has not been done and seems like a far-fetched dream.
That is until, Mochudi Centre Chiefs hit a very rich vein of form this season. The Kgatleng giants are still to lose a game after 21 outings in the Mascom Premier League. Chiefs have registered an unbelievable 15 wins and six draws so far. They are poised to make history by winning the league unbeaten to land their first ever major soccer title. All eyes will be on them in the remaining nine games to see if they can stay the course.
Though they looked almost certain to lose some of the recent games, they have always fought like wounded tigers to come up with at least a point with last gap equalisers. It started against ECCO City Greens in the first round of the league at the UB Stadium in December. ECCO went ahead when Robert Tamba gave Noah Maposa no chance. But Chiefs were awarded a dubious penalty and Jerome Ramatlhakwana made no mistake from the spot.
A brilliant move involving Tamba, Abednico Powell and Mandlaenkosi Sibanda resulted in a beautiful finish by Sibanda to give ECCO 2-1 lead. The goal nearly ended Chiefs' unbeaten run until Othusitse Jabu Pilane netted in a last gasp equaliser that proved controversial after claims that the referee added more optional time at the end of the normal 90 minutes.
Against Extension Gunners in the second round, Chiefs once again battled it out to the dying minutes to escape with a draw and protect their unbeaten run. Less than three weeks after the Gunners' game, Chiefs faced bitter rivals Township Rollers in an eagerly awaited encounter that netted a whopping P256,000 in gate takings.
Scouts from South Africa among them the well-known players' agent Mike Makaab attended the match.
Rollers' speedy winger, Joel Mogorosi broke the deadlock before Ramatlhakwana equalised. But Rollers took the lead once again courtesy of an own goal from Gobonyeone Selefa.
Oteng Moalosi levelled matters in the referee's optional time for a third last minute escape up by Chiefs. After the game, one Rollers' supporter said he does not think Chiefs' record will be broken this season. "Can you see that this team is beating all odds? If they managed to overcome ECCO, Rollers and Gunners, which team has the courage and the resilience to do that?"
Though it is still possible that they might get the shock of their lives in the remaining games, Chiefs' dream of being the first team to win the league unbeaten is closer. Besides depth, the current Magosi squad has a fighting spirit that has powered the team this far.
Club chairman, Ernest Molome has assembled arguably the best Chiefs ever. He has comprehensively beefed up the team that lost the title race narrowly to ECCO last year.
The teamwork at Chiefs is superb as exemplified by the fact that last week, they overcame a determined Gaborone United (GU) even though they had to play 20 minutes of the match a man down. Their title challengers like Uniao Flamengo Santos have miserably failed to take advantage whenever Chiefs failed to win.
Santos have remained the closest team to dent Chiefs' dreams of winning the league for the first time but after losing to Boteti Young Fighters at the weekend, Magosi seem to be running away with the title. Chiefs visit Santos at the UB Stadium on Friday night and a win for Magosi will definitely bring the contest for the title to an end.
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So far, Chiefs' colourful and passionate supporters have played a very important part in the club's success this season. Their singing and dancing has become an extra-motivation for the players who have made sure the fans go home happy.
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| Copyright © 2008 Mmegi/The Reporter. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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