MAJOR DAVID BRIGHT BLAMES GU OFFICIAL

BY:Phodiso Gaebepe

GABORONE: National team coach Major David Bright was addressed a press conference today at Lekidi auditorium about the just ended Cosafa cup.

He gave feed back about the trip, welfare and the hospitality they received in South Africa, Polokwane.

The coach was happy about all those. Bright said that the tournament went well, the group which the team was in was a very challenging one and was believed to be the group of death.

The teams that it was in was Malawi, Angola, Mauritius. The first game was against Angola where the Zebras won 2-1. It went on to draw 1-1 with Malawi where Kabelo Seakanyeng scored a late equalizer.

The third game was against Mauritius where the Zebras demolished it by 6-0.

They went on to the quarter finals against  Zimbabwe and lost 3-1 on penalties. The Zimbabwe goalkeeper George Chigova was the hero of the day by saving 3 penalties on the night.

Over the 90minutes, they drew 1-1 and still coming from behind to equalise.

This meant the Zebras qualified for the plate final where they faced South Africa’s Bafana Bafana. The Zebras were beaten 3-0  in the final and bowed out of the tournament in position 6.

With all that said Major David Bright blamed fatigue for the poor performance in the final.

“the boys played so many games without resting. I could sed in the final that there was too much fatigue. ” said the coach.

The other factor was the unfortunate incident that took place, where the Gaborone United official sneaked into the camp to sign the two players, Seakanyeng and Kgamanyane.

He said the worst part was when he gave them Chippa United shirts to wear and took photos of them and posted on social media. Bright said this incident disturbed the players as they got excited and lost concentration.

He said  Skhebo was avoiding contact during the game and could not give his all as he was avoiding injuries. He said this affected the performance of the team.

When asked about why he did not include  Kgamanyane on the game. He said it was because of the incident.

The other factor which he mentioned was the game plan. His game plan did not include him.

The other question was how that official managed to enter the camp as there should be a security. He explained that only 27 delegates were allowed at the camp and could not accommodate the security. So there was no security.

The other question was about the analyst. The need for an expert analyst to review performances after every match so that they can strategist better for games. He agreed that there is a need for that kind of person in the national team because these kind of tournaments the coach does not have enough time to introspect into games and plan properly.

He concluded that the national team must be respected. These kind of things must be avoided. Professionalism must be practiced at all times.

The next Zebras assignment will be in September against Angola in the AFCON qualifier business.