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Botswana: Buffaloes Admit Coke Cup Weakness
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Mmegi/The Reporter (Gaborone)
24 July 2008
Posted to the web 24 July 2008
Chippa Legodimo
Mochudi Buffaloes' coach Moshe Koitsiwe has admitted that despite the 2-0 win against Kumakwane Checkers, his side struggled throughout the Coca-Cola Cup match.
The coach fears that he might not stand the test in the next round against Premier League sides. Buffaloes will face Gaborone giants Township Rollers on the weekend of August 9-10 in the last 32. "This game (against Checkers) has opened our eyes. We did not think Checkers would come out so strong and I have to admit we struggled, especially in the first half. It was only individual brilliance which saved us and the fact that they were not deadly in front of goal," Koitsiwe said.
Star Ramponwane's individual brilliance set the Mochudi side to victory when it appeared the match was headed to the penalty shootout. In the 65th minute, he made a harmless run on the left but suddenly he spotted the Checkers' goalkeeper out of his line. He powered a low shot into the net to light up the small crowd in attendance.
"We were chasing them throughout the first half and we only improved a little bit in the second half, though we were not totally impressive. But one has to appreciate the fact that they (Checkers) have been playing competitive football while we had to use friendly games to prepare," Koitsiwe said.
"It will be fatal for us to shout that we are going to kill a Premier League side. It will be a big bonus if we win but we just have to go into the next stage with cool heads and play our normal game. We have the league to worry about. We came to this game missing a lot of key players, who are injured and we could post a totally different performance in the next game. We are going to prepare," Koitsiwe said.
Second half substitute Midas Maseke sealed the match for Buffaloes in the dying minutes with an easy tap-in to make it 2-0. Checkers' coach, Tsaone Motsuminyana said after the game that his charges were too cautious especially in the second half when they were supposed to go on the offensive. "They were too cautious and committed some elementary mistakes which were easily exploited by our opponents. I think they were overwhelmed by the fact that they were playing a team which has been in the First Division for some years while we only got promoted the previous weekend," Motsuminyana said.
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He believes that had his boys been more confident, they could have easily beaten Buffaloes. "We possessed better skill than them and were ahead of them in terms of fitness but my players just did not believe in themselves. I tried to motivate them before this game but players are players," he said.
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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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