Zimbabwe Survive Late Scare To Beat Bostwana

Zimbabwe survived a late scare from Botswana to win 2-1 in a international friendly played at Rufaro Stadium.

In a match that was played before a small crowd of about 5,000, Zimbabwe fell behind early on to a Lemponye Tsiriletsho strike in the fifth minute.

Klaus-Dieter Pagels’s me got back into it in the 18th minute when Khama Billiart scored, after a mistake by the Botswana goalie.

With their tails firmly between their legs, the Warriors’s pressure paid off when last year’s Zimbabwe PSL player of the year Denver Mukamba scored with a low shot from outside the box.

Zimbabwe continued to dominate the rest of the first half but could not beat Maposa in goal for the Tswana.

Mukamba’s match ended earlier than he hoped after he pulled a hamstring which will not please his news employers, Bidvest Wits.

Both teams hit the woodwork as the second half wore on but it was the Tswana who finished strongly but all in all it was a good great start for interim coach Pagels.

While he will be happy with his midfielder it was profligacy in front of goal by his strikers which would have given him some cause for concern.