Mikia Kalati
MOTEBANG Sera produced a moment of magic in one of his best performances in a Matlama shirt as Tse Putsoa came from a goal down to trounce Liphakoe 3-1 on Saturday.
The lanky striker netted the first hat-trick of the Econet Premier League this season and his first and third goals were just out of this world. In fact, I think his third goal would be good enough to be a contender for the FIFA Puskas award had it been captured on television.
This is a player who recently had trials at South African Premier League giants Orlando Pirates and I have no doubt that had this match been on television and made to trend, it would surely help his case to win a contract at the club.
It’s sad that in this age we are still unable to broadcast live matches on television, a platform which I believe would play a huge role in marketing the local players in bigger leagues on the continent and globally.
Our leadership has over the years failed the youth of this country by failing to invest in and develop the local broadcaster so that it can market their talent to the outside world.
I was in Botswana during the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Games last year and I was amazed at how the Botswana TV had live coverage of some of the games like netball and volleyball.
Of course, BTV has been miles ahead for a few years now and it’s all credit to the Botswana government which continues to commit towards improving its country as well as empowering its youth.
Well, that said, I now switch my attention to Bantu FC, who were also in action over the weekend in the first leg of the Confederations Cup play-off where they lost 2-1 against Enugu Rangers of Nigeria.
We have all been excited that the Mafeteng outfit has made it this far in the continental competitions but the truth of the matter is that they failed to come to the party against a poor side on Sunday.
I understand that the club was without a number of its key players on the day due to injuries but it was a disappointing performance based on the fact that they had the home advantage.
The performance was below par and it will take something special for them to turn the tables in Nigeria, where they should expect hostile conditions.
The players showed neither hunger nor commitment to get something out of the match.
The team generally lacked the depth that is expected for teams which play continental football and it should be a lesson for any club that will be representing the country in this competition next year that they need a big squad to compete at that level.
