Debmarine Premiership champions African Stars are making the most of their pre-season tour in Botswana, with head coach Ronnie Kanalelo expressing satisfaction with his
team’s performance.

The team has so far played four matches, all of which yielded positive results.

The pre-season campaign began on Thursday last week with a narrow 1-0 victory over Gaborone United. On Friday, Stars faced DStv Premiership side Supersport United, and again emerged victorious with a 1-0 scoreline. They continued their strong performance by defeating another Botswana team, Masitaoka FC, sending a stern warning to all Debmarine Premiership teams.

While pleased with the results, Kanalelo emphasised that the primary focus is on building fitness and preparing for the upcoming PST Bet NFA Cup final on 27 July against Young Brazilian.

“For me, it’s not about results at this stage. I just want to see if we still remember some of the dynamics from last season, because we have not started working on our game model. It’s good to see that the boys are putting in the work,” he said.

“We are also working towards the upcoming Cup final, which is just a few days away. We have players on trial, and we are testing our squad to see how the combinations work out,” he added. 

Meanwhile, Supersport United head coach Gavin Hunt commended Stars for providing a tough test during their pre-season match. He acknowledged that while his squad is not at full strength, the encounter proved valuable for assessing player combinations.

“It was a good workout for the team,” Hunt said. “African Stars are a physical and competitive side. We’re using these friendly matches to evaluate our players, and identify areas for improvement. We’ve taken a lot of positives from this match,” he observed.

– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na