The league champions needed the lottery of the penalty shootout over the weekend to overcome very defensive Namibian side, African Stars, in the second leg of the CAF Champions League first preliminary round played at the National Stadium on Saturday afternoon. Galaxy won 1-0 in regulation time to make it 1-1 in aggregate score as African Stars had in the previous weekend won the first leg of the encounter by the same margin. It was a tough ask for the Galaxy Stars as the visitors deployed defensive strategies and kept the home team at bay for the majority of the match.
With the tie level at 0-0 at the break and with African Stars in the lead over two legs, Ramoreboli made five substitutions before the hour mark in effort to salvage the result. He introduced creative midfielder, Gift Moyo, forwards, Wendell Rudath, Thero Setsile and Onkabetse Makgantai. Notably, forward Omaatla Kebatho debuted for the team a year after signed for the club. He had missed the rest of last season due to a knee injury. In all the offensive changes by Ramoreboli, the African Stars’ defence was finally broken on the 68th minute. Full back, Benson Mangolo played a perfect cross for Kebatho who took the chance on a half volley to beat the goalkeeper to the bottom corner as he marked his club debut with a goal.
Goitseone Phoko went on to be the hero of the day as he made three penalty saves to gift his team a 6-5 win after eight rounds of penalty kicks. Galaxy will meet Pirates in the second preliminary round of the CAF Champions League to be played in three weeks. The two teams met in the same stage of the tournament last season and Galaxy booked a spot in group stages with a Pirates upset. Ramoreboli said Tebogo’s historic win in the 200m race in the just ended Olympic Games would give side a push as he believes he has the right arsenal for the Pirates battle. “I believe that he (Tebogo) is an inspiration for all Batswana athletes. For me, whatever we do, we need to leave a mark.
We need to make history and stories and the journey like that of Tebogo gives us hope that we need to believe in ourselves. We will do the same thing that we did in the previous match, believe in ourselves and go do our best. We have a very good team, very committed individuals, they know how to fight and represent the badge,” said Ramoreboli.
The teams
Galaxy: Goitseone Phoko, Moagi Sechele, Thabo Leinanyane, Lesego Kereedilwe, Benson Mangolo, Kutlwelo Mpolokang, Olebogeng Ramotse (Gift Moyo), Gilbert Baruti (Wendell Rudath), Neo Mokhachane (Onkabetse Makgantai), Thabang Sesinyi (Wendell Rudath), Thabiso Bante (Omaatla Kebatho) African Stars: Kamaijanda Ndisiro, Edmund Kambanda, Vetapi Ngaruka, Charles Hambira, Thabang Malele, Ronald Ketjirere, Ngero Katua, Godwin Eiseb, Paulous Aludhilu, Ibrohim Youssef, Mbakhonda Tjahikika
Galaxy 1 (Kebatho 68th minute) African Stars 0
