Zebras leave without new coach

Tshosane was appointed on Monday morning after the sacking of the Briton Colwyn Rowe. The Zebras left with goalkeeper coach Thabo Motang, manager Sello Katse and his assistant States Segopolo. When asked about the absence of the coach at the Sir Seretse Khama Airport, BFA technical advisor Losika Keatlholetswe claimed that the tactician was booked on a different flight but would not elaborate.

Mmegi Sport learnt later in the day that Tshosane could not leave with the team until he has 'put pen to paper'. In an interview with Mmegi Sport, an inside source at the BFA said that the Zebras could have left with Tshosane if some members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) had done their job. 'The president [Phillip Makgalemele] was in South Africa and it was expected that his deputies would ensure that Tshosane's contract was in place to allow him to concentrate on the job at hand. I suspect some of the members of NEC are sabotaging the president so Batswana lose confidence in him,' said the source.

Before lunchtime yesterday, the source further said, 'they must have agreed terms with him [Tshosane] because I saw him rushing out'. The source added that the BFA has no choice but to give Tshosane a contract as the team cannot play in the Portuguese-speaking country without a reputable coach. Later yesterday, BFA released a statement signed by Makgalemele rebutting reports that Tshosane remained behind because he could not agree terms with BFA.

The statement said Tshosane had some family commitments to attend to before departure. He is said to have joined the Zebras in Johannesburg. Assistant coach Kenneth Mogae is expected to join the team in Mozambique today to help Tshosane on the bench.

With such lacklustre planning by the BFA, some pundits believe that the Zebras have lost the game before they can even play. They pointed out that the boys can only win if they ignore the off-field problems and concentrate on the job at hand.