Ramoreboli Rejoices In Botswana AFCON Qualification
Botswana interim coach Morena Ramoreboli has detailed how his side masterminded a 1-1 draw against seven-time African champions Egypt to secure their ticket to the 2025 AFCON, in an encounter he says they were written off.
The Zebras drew first blood at the 30 June Air Defence Stadium through Omaatla Kebatho in the eighth minute, leaving the Pharaohs stunned before stand-in Egyptian captain Mahmoud Hassan leveled matters seven minutes later in the absence of a rested Mohammed Salah.
The full-time whistle sent the Botswana technical team, players, and supporters into delirium as it meant the Southern African nation had qualified for the continental showpiece for the first time in 12 years and the second time in the country’s history with their last appearance dating back to 2012.
Ramoreboli, who replaced Didier Gomes Da Rosa temporarily after the French coach resigned from the post to join Libyan club Al-Ahli in October, hailed his charges for the character and tenacity they showed to hold firm in Cairo.
“We first need to take this opportunity and thank the man above, a difficult journey. Coming here obviously, we were written off and no one believed that we could come here and get that point, ” said the Jwaneng Galaxy mentor
“Moreover, we were playing against a very competitive team but honestly, we needed to go to the boys for the resilience, hard work, and the positive attitude they show, like I said we knew that it was going to be a difficult game.”
The South African-born tactician, often lauded for his tactical prowess, went on to shed light on how he set up his team to deal with the attacking threat posed by a side that’s 110 places above them in the FIFA world rankings.
“We started the game with 4-2-3-1 [formation] and the biggest challenge is that they were overloading the sides with three and we had to extend the last line, ” the 43-year-old coach explained.
“After extending the last line, we had to understand that we had to sacrifice the diamond, the triangle in midfield, and form a line which I think worked for us because we had to cover the inner spaces where they put one player and overloaded with the other player.
“So, we had to have a permanent wingback who will deal with a player on the ball. I think we did it well especially second half because I mean there were gaps in the first half, and I think we could have done better.
“But I think because of those one pockets they would get, it became difficult for us to deal with the situation, so we had to sacrifice the numbers and try to play more of your 3-5-2 [formation], which I think worked for us.”
Despite facing 30 goal attempts from Egypt and replying with only four, the Zebras stood their ground and prevailed from a tough situation, qualifying ahead of Cape Verde and Mauritania in a group where they were considered as minnows.
It remains to be seen whether Botswana is ready to stage a respectable 2025 AFCON campaign after suffering a disappointing tournament on their debut in 2012, crashing out of the group stages and failing to collect a single point.
