Jacob Kelebeng – Minister of Sports and Arts "We are very happy at the ministry. For the second time, we have made it to AFCON and we are very happy. This is what we want from the boys. If you invest in sports, this will be the result. If you look at the team, they have been together for around five or six years. We also have four or five players in the team playing abroad. Their experience and international experience are very important to the team. This is why we say we need to develop more talent and export more talent. The 2012 squad had around eight years together and had a couple of youngsters then with Ofentse Nato and Mogakolodi Ngele who gelled well with the senior players. When these players play together for a long time, results come. You can see that in our team there is talent. What is necessary is the technical skills that are developed at developmental stages. We are very happy. What is necessary is for us as the ministry to support the national team, we need to sit down and I have yet to appreciate the wellbeing of our national team athletes, not only football but also sports as a whole. We need to appreciate them so that we reward them accordingly so that we can have better results in sports."
Tuelo Serufho – CEO, Botswana National Olympic Committee "We are very happy. It has been a long time coming. The last time was in 2012 and 12 years later we have made the qualification. Well, it has been a good year and that I think is quite fundamental because it was a year of many firsts and many great achievements. From the first Olympic gold medal with Letsile, the first silver medal in the 4x400m men's relay at the Olympics and Ross Branch winning the World Rally-Raid Championship. Let us not forget the Mares for qualifying back-to-back for the WAFCON something that has never been done before. The Zebras just put the icing on the cake. So we are very happy, it has been a good year and very kind to our country. We only hope for more in the future."
Mompati Thuma – Captain, Zebras 2012 AFCON squad "The team did very well and I can only say I am very proud of them. They are the second batch to qualify for the AFCON after our team and I must say they did everything necessary to secure a qualification. So as a nation, we can only be proud of the boys. But I would like to say the time for preparations is as early as now. I cannot compare the two teams as I had said they are the second batch to qualify for the tournament after us. They are a new generation of players; we were a different generation of players so I cannot compare them to us. We secured qualification; what we need to do next is ensure that we do not get there to add numbers. The time to start preparations should be now, it is important to start preparing for the AFCON as early as possible."
Kitso Ramono – Sports Journalist, The Voice Newspaper "It was exciting but also nerve-wracking to cover the team during the duration of the qualification phase. Well, we had got off to a bad start but recovered well to have a claim at qualification. The team showed that hunger to qualify, especially in the final (of qualifiers) against Egypt. Despite the technical team changes midway through the qualification phase, the team did not get disturbed and showed hunger and resilience to secure a qualification."
