Owen Da Gama impressed by rapid Botswana Premier League improvement

Da Gama was speaking to SABC Sport after his side Lions FC narrowly lost 1-0 to one of the country's biggest teams, Mochudi Centre Chiefs, in Gaborone last night. 

This was their sixth loss of the season in 11 matches, with Da Gama praising the competitiveness of the league and how the local mining industry has been key to this. 

"I think it's a very competitive league, there are a lot of quality players, the mining teams like Jwaneng [Galaxy], Orapa [United] and Sua [Flamingoes], and a few others, have really invested heavily in football," said da Gama.

"So has Gabarone United, they're a fantastic team, as well Nico United is coming strong with Floyd Mbele there, he's doing fantastic.

"So I think all this is just taking Botswana football to another level, but I still believe that there could be a little bit of [improvement] – if the facilities could just be improved a little bit, it will help the football go to another level as well.

"But apart from that, I think the league is run fantastically well, the referees are tops – I can tell you that, no matter we get angry at them but their quality is very good, so overall it's a real quality league."

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One of the key players in the Lions team is left-footed centre-back Xolani Cossa, who is on loan from Kaizer Chiefs, and Da Gama says he has been crucial to their plans, which were affected by a head injury the player suffered last night.

"Xolani is a true professional, and I'm proud to say Chiefs, Pirates and Sundowns always produce quality, professional players, and we're happy to have him here," he added.

"He's added such a lot of impetus in our defence and it was evident once he went off, we started battling a little bit at the back there with the aerial balls because we knew they were going to pump that ball.

"And they had other moments, yes, but we dealt well with it. But in saying that, we also created some glorious opportunities to score, and just before their goal we had a one-on-one but unfortunately we did not score, and if you don't score, it motivates the opposition."