Zebras brace for COSAFA champions' wrath

FREDERICK KEBADIRETSE
Staff Writer | Wednesday July 24, 2013 00:00

Botswana welcomes Chipolopolo in the first leg match of the first round of African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers at the Molepolole Sports Complex. When fielding questions from the media following Saturday's 2-0 victory over Zimbabwe in Ndola, the Frenchman told this reporter that he would definitely keep the squad of locally based players to face the Zebras and that they want to continue where they left off to win the CHAN.

He said the team has a lot of young players who proved in the COSAFA Cup that they have what it takes to be future Chipolopolo stars.They include goalkeeper Danny Munyai and winger Mukuka Mulenga who won individual awards for their performance. Renard also revealed the secret behind his team's success in the regional competition. Way back before the tournament, he embarked on an ambitious initiative, travelling the country to identify new players who could be considered for the national side.

He said through the initiative, they unearthed 300 new players and engaged them in a mini tournament to assess them further.He said the move would help in the future to easily know where to look for whenever there is need for reinforcements or replacements in the team. He emphasised the importance of tournaments like CHAN and COSAFA for giving domestic players an opportunity to showcase their potential in the absence of some regulars who play overseas.

The 2012 AFCON winning coach, however, said the team would need to improve if they want to continue doing well in the region, starting with their game against Botswana at Molepolole. While other countries in the region, including Botswana, struggle to have all players they want for regional competitions, with clubs holding on to them, Renard said it is a different case in Zambia.

He said clubs and all stakeholders have been cooperative and released all players in time for national duty. On Saturday the Zebras will have a slight edge over Chipolopolo as they had more time to rest and prepare for the game after being knocked out of the COSAFA Cup in the preliminary stages. The team returned home last week and continued with their camp with coach Stanley Tshosane making a couple of additions to the squad he took to Kitwe. Tshosane took a relatively experienced squad than any other team at COSAFA, but disappointingly failed to make it past the group stages. Zambia on the other hand will have only five days to prepare.

 The Zambian contingent is scheduled to arrive in Botswana tomorrow. Meanwhile, BFA CEO Keith Masters said nothing has been arranged yet for the Saturday game to be broadcast live on Botswana Television (Btv).