Tshosane fumes over chaotic preps

FREDERICK KEBADIRETSE
Staff Writer | Wednesday May 1, 2013 00:00

 

Tshosane told Mmegi Sport yesterday that there is a big problem in his camp as far as preparations are concerned. The coach called a 30-man squad to camp on Sunday to prepare for a friendly match against Zimbabwe next Wednesday, but by yesterday only 12 players had reported to camp.

'How do I prepare for a game with only 12 players? Some of these things are just not practical, they should have just cancelled the friendly match if they knew players would not be available,' Tshosane said.

He said when reporting to camp on Sunday, he was told that Mochudi Centre Chiefs and Gaborone United (GU) players will not be able to join the team as they will be engaged in friendly matches in South Africa preparing for their CAF matches.

Players from the two teams make up the bulk of the squad called to camp. Tshosane said he was told that the players would only be available on Sunday and he will have very little time to prepare as a team before leaving for Zimbabwe.

He said out of the 12 players in camp, three would not go with the team due to various reasons, leaving him with only nine players. He said it is disappointing that when he takes up the problem of not having players with the BFA leadership, they just tell him to leave those players behind and look for replacements.

'How do you say that to a coach, I called certain players to camp looking at their abilities and they are the ones I want in my team,' he said.

He blasted the BFA for lack of proper organisation, as he did not even know when the team will be leaving to Zimbabwe and only got notified yesterday morning that they will be travelling by road to Harare, as the association has no money for air travel.

'We do not have players in camp and the next thing the nation expects us to go and beat Zimbabwe, ' he said. He said the Zebras' Local Organising Committee (LOC) had agreed to have at least one friendly match with a Premier League team in Francistown before the Zimbabwe friendly but the match was called off without his consent and again he was told there was no money.

 'They are always giving this excuse of no money, where does all the money from the sponsors go? We know last year Orange gave some money specifying that it was for the team's preparations.  That was before Banc ABC also came in and gave them money. But every time I present a schedule I am told 'there is no money',' Tshosane said.

 He said he is facing the same problem he experienced after participating in last year's AFCON when the team missed several training camps before the start of the 2013 AFCON and the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.

'In football there is no short cut, you have to prepare well, and if you are not prepared you will fail,' he said. He said they have already missed two training camps in November and December that were part of his schedule.

Tshosane is facing a difficult task of assembling a competitive outfit before resuming the faltering 2014 Brazil World Cup campaign with a tough assignment away to the Ethiopia in March. 

He said it was crucial at this moment to rev up preparations for the World Cup qualifiers where the Zebras are currently languishing at the bottom of Group A with a single point from two matches. He said the team did not play any friendly match before leaving to Mali last year where they lost the first leg of the AFCON qualifiers.

He said earlier last month (Jan) they came fresh from a festive break to play a friendly match with Angola without adequate preparations. He said the last time he had South African-based players was in September last year before hosting Mali in Lobatse, but they were an important part of his team.

When reached for comment, acting BFA chief executive officer (CEO) Tariq Babitseng said they do help the technical team whenever they seek their assistance.

Babitseng said their challenge this time around is that next Wednesday is a FIFA international friendly date and it is mandatory for teams to release players, but Chiefs and GU gave valid reasons why they would release their players late.  He said as far as he knows, players always give reasons why they cannot report to camp. 'Sometimes they give personal reasons, like illnesses, or family commitments, and in those cases it becomes difficult for us to intervene,' he said.