‘Amrouche can do wonders for Chiefs’, says Botswana star Ditlhokwe

“He’s my national team coach here in Botswana. My opinion of him as someone who has worked under him… I would say he’s quite an impressive person. He’s an all in one if I can say that,” Ditlhokwe told Phakaaathi.

“He’s a coach who knows how to deal with the psychology of players, he knows how to deal with injuries. He’s a sports scientists of some sort.

“He has the experience because he has coached in the North, West [Africa] and even in Europe. He’s impressive, for an example I can tell you that since his arrival we haven’t had much time but the little time we have spent with him we were impressed because he turned the team around quite quickly. He is a father to everybody. He’s told us his house is always open for us when we need him. He knows how to manage the players, how to groom a player and how to instill team spirit.

“When he sees that you’ve lost your confidence, he works on you to redeem your confidence,” explained Ditlhokwe.

He said Amrouche has been so good with the Zebras that they feel they can become one of the recognised national teams in the continent under his guidance.

“Since he came here, we’ve played against the big teams like Egypt, Algeria and Zimbabwe and you couldn’t really differentiate between us and those teams because we were able to match them even though we don’t have that much quality. But because of his intelligence, his tactics, the structure he has set-up and everything that he laid down for us and taught us to apply was quite impressive and made us have confidence on ourselves. It didn’t matter that we were playing against the big teams because of his presence which turned the atmosphere around and we believed in ourselves,” said the 21-year-old.

Ditlhokwe said Amrouche spent most of his time during lockdown helping him with training programs to help him keep fit.

“Even during lockdown when I was home in Botswana he helped me by designing training programs for me. Many people from as far as Qatar were calling him begging that he moves that side.

“But because he is a man of principle, when he has started something he focuses on that and is not someone whose thinking is diverted by money. He is someone who keeps his word and works until he has accomplished what he set out. They were always calling him but he kept telling them that he was here in Botswana and building a project. Even before coming here, he had offers from bigger and better teams but he took the challenge of Botswana.”

Ditlhokwe said it would be a big loss for the Zebras if he Amrouche were to leave for Amakhosi as reports suggest.

“If he goes to Kaizer Chiefs… yah we would be in trouble in Botswana because we would have lost a diamond…  he could help us as a small country to write our names all over the continent. I really believe that with him anything is possible for us.

“He is capable of turning Chiefs around and working wonders because of the players that they have. He knows how to work with players to get the best out of them. He is friendly and acts as a father but once he gets onto the field and it’s time for work, it’s time to work nothing else.”