By TesfaNews,
In there rare international appearance, the Red Sea Camels of Eritrea fell 2-0 at home against the Zebras of Botswana as the 13 first-leg schedule of the 2018 World Cup preliminary round qualifier was completed on today.
The match was played in Cicero Stadium and was settled by a goal in each half. Galabgwe Moyana gave the Zebras the lead midway through the opening half and Joel Mogorosi scored the second midway through the second half.
Eritrea has never won a world cup qualifier game in the last four qualifying competitions of seven matches. It drew 3 times and lost 3 times.
Botswana too has never qualified for the World Cup before and only once for the AFCON in 2012.
The Red Sea Camels needs to bounce back from this first leg lose. Defeating Botswana at their home turf, however, won’t be that easy but not impossible. After all, the Zebras lost their last friendly match against Ethiopia in a pre-match preparation game for Eritrea in front of their fans.
The winners of this tie will therefore face Mali in the next round to the group stages.
There will be three second legs on Sunday and another 10 on Tuesday with the overall winners joining the 27 top-ranked African teams in a second round of home-and-away eliminators during November.
Congratulations to Botswana and a good luck for Red Sea Camels in their return leg game on Tuesday at the 27,000 seater Stadium in Francistown, 436Km North of the capital Gaborone.
