Brave Fight

By Tshepo Molwane
Staff Writer | Monday June 16, 2008 00:00

 

Zebras top the group with five points from three outings, nudging the 'Elephants' into second place on superior goal difference. Ahead of the weekend's game, the rampaging Ivorians were favourites to whitewash the speedy and fast-improving Zebras, but they were given a good run for their money. Missing a number of their key players amongst them star strikers Didier Drogba and Salomon Kalou of English Premier League side Chelsea, the Elephants started the game cautiously not to concede an early goal.

Zebras came into the game fired up after their 2-1 away win in Mozambique and seemed destined to pull off another sensational result. Local supporters packed the National Stadium in large numbers, something that had not been seen when the Zebras were under sacked coach Colwyn Rowe's tutelage.

The home side felt hard done in the 16th minute when the Ugandan referee ignored their appeal for a penalty after an Ivory Coast defender handled in the box. But the boys were not to be denied. For nine minutes later, the Zebras stunned the visitors when leading marksman Dipsy Selolwane opened the scoring with a spectacular bicycle-kick, which gave Ivory Coast goalkeeper Boubacar Barry no chance.

The celebrations that followed were deafening as Selolwane netted his second goal for the Zebras in less than seven days. It was Selolwane who scored Botswana's opening goal against Mozambique in Maputo the previous weekend. Selolwane was a constant headache to the Ivorians' rearguard before he was unexpectedly substituted in the second half.

The home side continued to create problems for their opponents with Selolwane, Malepa 'Chippa' Bolelang and Pontsho Moloi leading the onslaught. The Elephants, on the other hand, repeatedly foiled the Zebras' moves and when they counter-attacked, they demonstrated why they are among the highly-rated sides in the continent. Their first clear-cut chance came in the 34th minute but Kouamatien Kole shot wide. Towards the end of the first 45 minutes, Zebras' goalkeeper and captain Modiri Marumo was forced to make a brilliant save from Boubacar Sanogo for the Zebras to lead 1-0 at halftime. At that stage the chanting and singing supporters were confident that their boys would claim another scalp of a big giant.

After the break, the Elephants came firing from all the cylinders and Sanogo came close with a header after a brilliant cross from Igor Lolo. The Zebras' defence was caught sleeping and were lucky not to have conceded a goal. The visitors continued to push forward but they could not beat Marumo between the posts. Selolwane could have increased the tally in the 50th minute but shot wide after Ivory Coast allowed him room for manoeuvre just on the edge of the penalty box.

The Elephants' relentless sorties upfront finally paid dividends in the 64th minute when Abdoulaye Meite fired on target from close range to level the scores. The goal left the local supporters wondering if their side would strike back like they did in Mozambique but this time around that was not to be. In fact, the Zebras were under siege for most part of the second half and this was not helped by the substitution of Selolwane in the 79th minute. Unlike in Mozambique, the technical team, led by Stanley Tshosane, seems to have erred when they substituted Selolwane for Jomo Moatlhaping.

The Elephants' captain Kolo Toure, who plays for Londoners Arsenal, credited Botswana saying that they are a good team. But he said despite the second consecutive draw, the West Africans still have a chance of stamping their authority in Group Seven. He cautioned the Zebras not to expect any mercy when they travel to Abidjan this coming weekend. For his part, skipper Marumo told Monitor Sport that they played well in the opening half but faded in the second half when the visitors stepped up the tempo of the match. 'That is usually the case when you play against a good team like Ivory Coast,' he said.