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Maliehe rallies troops

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‘We’ll go out for victory against Tanzania’…………

MASERU – Lesotho national coach, Moses Maliehe, says his charges are going “all out for a win” against Tanzania in the sides’ crucial 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifier on Sunday at Setsoto Stadium.

If Likuena are to have any chance of qualifying for next June’s continental showpiece they have to beat Tanzania in what will be the sides’ second meeting in Group L.
The teams first met last June in Tanzania and the game ended 1-1 with Thapelo Tale scoring Likuena’s goal.

After losing twice to Uganda last month, Lesotho – after a promising start – now faces an uphill battle to make history and qualify for its first-ever AFCON.
Likuena are bottom of Group L – behind leaders Uganda, Tanzania and Cape Verde – and their fate rests on the results of the other teams in the pool.
Lesotho has two points with two games to play, and only the top two will qualify for Cameroon 2019.

Maliehe, however, insisted his team have to ‘fight for the country’ adding that Likuena plan to attack Tanzania from the first whistle on Sunday.
“We are ready, it is the same situation (as for the game) against Uganda, and we plan to attack from the beginning of the game,” Maliehe said.
“We have prepared enough to play Tanzania; we have to win the game and we cannot talk about winning the game if we are not attacking. We don’t have any other plan for the game besides attacking,” he added.

Likuena will have to achieve their goal without striker Nkoto Masoabi who is unavailable because of an injury.
Masoabi struck his first goal for his new side Real Kings in a 2-2 draw with Ajax Cape Town two weekends ago in South Africa’s National First Division and was in line to start on Sunday.
Maliehe, however, insisted his side would manage without Masoabi and pointed to Lesotho Correctional Services striker Thapelo Tale as a possible solution.

“We don’t have Nkoto; he is not in form right now. He scored against Ajax (and) it’s unfortunate he is not available (but) we have Thapelo Tale, he is a speedy player,” Maliehe said.
Maliehe said morale is high in the Likuena camp for Sunday’s game which will kick off at 4pm and whose tickets are already on sale for M30.

He said he called up the best possible squad for the task ahead and added that his technical brains trust they have enough information on Tanzania to get a result.
The East African nation is on a high after beating Cape Verde in their last Group L outing and the Taifa Stars are second in the pool with five points from four games.
A win for Likuena, though, would bring them level with Tanzania and Maliehe said he has full confidence in his team.

He continued that his charges should be motivated regardless of any monetary rewards.
“The morale is high in camp,” Maliehe said.
“We have made the best selection. Money or no money, as a person you are representing your own country,” he stressed.

“These (Likuena) players have to start representing the country and not come for money. Everybody needs money, even I do, but what about the country’s image if we keep losing and losing to countries we are equal with?” Maliehe added: “We have the best players in the squad, that’s why I mentioned money to say we are not here for money, we are here to represent the country. Football is about motivation and motivation is money. But what if it’s not there? What about yourself? What about representing the country at the highest level in Africa?”
“We have (Tanzania’s) tapes and DVDs,” Maliehe underlined.

“We have people that went to Bloemfontein to watch them playing a friendly with (Bloemfontein) Celtics (this week). The players they are using in that friendly are the players that are going to play here. We have enough information.”

Likuena squad:

Goalkeepers
Tankiso Chaba (Liphakoe), Samuel Ketsekile (LCS), Monaheng Ramalefane (Matlama)

Defenders
Basia Makepe, Nkau Lerotholi (both LMPS), Kopano Tseka, Mafa Moremoholo (both Lioli), Bokang Sello (Bantu)

Midfielders
Hlompho Kalake (Bantu), Jane Thaba-Ntšo, Mabuti Potloane (Matlama), Setho Moshoeshoe, Sepiriti Malefane (both LCS), Tumelo Khutlang, Tšoarelo Bereng (both Black Leopards), Tšepo Toloane (LDF), Jane Tšotleho

Strikers
Nkoto Masoabi (Real Kings), Thapelo Tale (LCS), Motebang Sera (Matlama)

Nkheli Liphoto

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Naughty Boys player stabbed to death

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Vodacom Premier League outfit Naughty Boys are dealing with the agonizing pain of the death on Sunday of key player Tšepo Mosaeeea.
Mosaeeea was stabbed to death in Ha-Ramohapi where he stayed in a rented house after he reportedly tried to break up an altercation between groups of men who were fighting over women.

His death came just hours after bottom side Naughty Boys beat Machokha 3-0 in the Vodacom Premiership in a potentially season-saving victory.
The win was a crucial boost to their survival hopes but just hours later tragedy engulfed the club.

Mosaeea was recognised as one of Naughty Boys’ most talented players by his teammates and coaches.
The club said his death has caused a deep wound in their hearts that will never heal.

“The space Tšepo left is something we are not sure will ever be filled because he grew up in this team from when he started playing football,” said Naughty Boys’ communications and marketing manager Moeketsi Sefatja.

“He took Naughty boys from the B-Division to the A-Division, and then from the A-Division to the premier league. The goal that helped the team to make it to the premier league was scored by him in 2022 when we beat Limkokwing University 1-0. He was very good at scoring and most of our goals were scored by him,” he said.

Mosaeea’s death is even more painful because of the numerous tragedies that Naughty Boys have dealt with over the past year.
Earlier this year another player, Fusi Mochai, also lost his life at a young age while club president Khotsofalang Possa died last year.
Sefatja said Mosaeea played “very well” in Sunday’s win over Machokha and had been one of the club’s best performers this season.

“Mosaeea started the game on a very high note and did very well. Everyone could see that he is back with the good things he is known for and people could not stop embracing him,” Sefatja said.

“I knew about his death at around 5am,” he added.

“I received a phone call from one of the people living in Ha-Ramohapi asking if I had heard of what had happened. I immediately left home to go to his place but met his family on their way to the hospital and went back with them (to the hospital). We got to the hospital and his death was confirmed,” he said.

Sefatja said Mosaeea’s death is a very big loss to the team, his friends, family and everyone who knew him.

“It hurts even more because he was not even fighting with anyone but was only trying to stop people who were having an argument and instead they chose to kill him,” Sefatja said.

“The situation has really become a problem because both our player’s deaths happened in their village (Ha-Ramohapi) and all these acts are done by people from the same village. These people have turned Ha-Ramohapi into an unfriendly environment for the villagers,” he said.

Moipone Makholinyane

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Big send-off for Lesotho athletes

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Lesotho’s various sports mother bodies held a send-off ceremony yesterday for the eight athletes that will represent the country at the African Games in Ghana.
The continental games start tomorrow and finish on March 23.

Before their departure, the athletes were educated about anti-doping and safeguarding so that they do not fall into the trap of doping.
Team Lesotho will compete in four sporting codes – taekwondo, athletics, cycling and boxing – and the team will be accompanied by a medical team for Anti-doping and a member of the Lesotho Sports and Recreation Commission (LSRC).

The team manager of Team Lesotho, ‘Makutloano Kheola, promised to return with glory because they are going to Accra to fight and not just to participate.
She said they are going to work hand in hand with their coaches to ensure that happens.

Kheola added that she appreciates the team’s sponsors for making their trip happen, especially those who gave them the unique traditional attire that they will wear during the official opening of the games.
She said when they return with medals, this edition of the African Games should forever be remembered in the history of the country.

“We are going to present the country of Ghana, this year we celebrate 200 years as the Basotho Nation. We promise Basotho that we are going to fight as Team Lesotho so that when the country celebrates, these games should be part of history. That is the promise the players made to me as their leader,” she said.

On behalf of the athletes, Tšepo Ramoshabole said they acknowledge their undertaking to conform to the athletic code of conduct sent by them. He said they will participate in the games, respecting and abiding the rules which govern them and in the spirit of fair play, equality and inclusion for all.

Speaking on behalf of the other coaches, athletics coach Letsema Moiloa said they are tired of participating in competitions, now they want to be part of the competing countries.

“I have pleaded with (the relevant bodies) that after these games, the country should keep the athletes training and improving and that they should not just qualify for the African Games and end there,” Moiloa said.

The president of the LSRC, Litšitso Motšeremeli, wished Team Lesotho “nothing but the best of luck.”

He said the effort the LSRC is making to give the athletes international exposure should be appreciated because they are doing that through a tight budget.

Relebohile Tšepe

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Lioli boss rallies troops

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Lioli head coach Motheo Mohapi says their “mission” matters more than their position on the Vodacom Premier League table.
Mohapi took over as Lioli coach at the beginning of the season and found Lioli in the doldrums after ‘Tse Nala’ missed out on a top four place for the fourth year in a row.
Seven months later Mohapi has transformed ‘Tse Nala’ into title challengers and raised hopes of a league championship going to Teyateyaneng for the first time since 2016.

Lioli regained top spot in the Vodacom Premiership last weekend with a 2-1 win over Manonyane and the destiny of the title is back in their hands with nine games to go.
Mohapi said he is happy that “the dignity is back at Lioli” but he insisted that the culture and faith has not yet reached the levels he wants.
Lioli may be winning, Mohapi said, but not in the way he wants.

His mission is to return Lioli to being the dominant juggernaut that won four league championships, three Independence Cup trophies and three Lesotho National Insurance Group (LNIG) Top 8 titles between 2009 and 2018.

“I want to see exactly what Lioli was known for (in the past), our style of playing and how we score should always be of high standard,” Mohapi said.

“Most people knew that Lioli win all of their games when they play, so until it turns to that point, I will keep pushing the team.”

That pursuit of perfection has served Mohapi well in a prosperous career.
Last season it inspired Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) to second place in the Vodacom Premiership and he arrived in TY determined to go one better this year.
So far, so good.

Lioli lead the standings with 49 points, one point ahead of Matlama and four ahead of defending champions Bantu who are in third place.
Mohapi said his players can now see where he wants to take them and their confidence, as a result, has grown.

Even when Lioli have slipped up, like in the 1-0 loss to LDF two weeks ago, it was because their own mistakes haunted them and not because they were outplayed.
Mohapi said his charges seemed to be afraid of LDF because he coached the army side. He insisted Lioli could have won if they played their game without doubting themselves.
Their approach towards Manonyane was back to their normal style, he said, and that is the reason why ‘Tse Nala’ won.
Mohapi praised his players’ concentration and communication, which he said has been key to their title chase.

“It did not take us even a minute to score a second goal after Manonyane celebrated their goal. The same thing happened against Matlama (1-1 draw in January), so that means the more our opponent catches us, the more we have to fight back,” he said.

“I also want to teach them to fight until the referee blows the final whistle.”

That fighting spirit and hope is filtering all the way through TY and Berea.
Mohapi said Lioli supporters greet him wherever he goes which shows he is answering prayers of a fan base that has not celebrated trophy success since winning the Independence Cup in 2018.

Mohapi urged the fans to show their vigour further by voting Lioli into the People’s Cup, which would give them a chance of completing a league and cup double.

“The supporters trust us and we will not disappoint them, the message of support they will give us by putting us in that (People’s Cup) tournament will be massive for us and we will return the favour to them. We promise to do whatever it takes to come with what will keep the smiles on our Berea community,” he said.

For now, the focus remains on the league chase and Lioli’s next match is on Sunday when they face a tricky test against seventh-placed Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) at the LCS ground. It promises to be a tough encounter between two of Lesotho’s most successful club sides.

“(LCS) should be ready,” Mohapi said. “Because we are getting ready for them.”

Relebohile Tšepe

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