Lesotho’s senior team coaches together with the Lesotho Football Association’s (LEFA) secretariat held a meeting with all coaches of the Vodacom Premier League clubs on Tuesday.

The meeting was at Bambatha Tšita Sports Arena and was held to discuss Lesotho’s upcoming schedule, details of Likuena’s training programme, the welfare of players and injuries amongst other things.

Many coaches, including the likes of James Madidilane, Katiso Mojakhomo and Thabile Secker, attended the meeting while those who could not make it to Bambatha sent their assistants.

Likuena head coach Leslie Notši and his technical team were present.

LEFA communications manager Mikia Kalati said the meeting was a successful one and it has happened before.

He said Likuena’s technical team initiated the gathering because club coaches are their colleagues and they must all work hand-in-hand. A wide range of topics was discussed and the coaches appreciated being updated with the national team’s upcoming schedule, which includes the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers as well as the COSAFA Cup.

The COSAFA Cup is usually staged during the preseason when teams are preparing for the new season and it means several Vodacom Premier League clubs start their preparations without their key players.

The meeting was necessary because national team coaches face challenges when calling players up for international duty, Kalati explained.

Normally the challenges arise because club coaches are in the dark about Likuena’s schedule and the programmes the players engage in for the days they spend with national team coaches.

“There is a lot that happens and (the meeting) was for league coaches to know the national team programme,” Kalati said.

“They now know what their players do when they are with the national team, remember in a week they spend two days with the national team coaches,” he added.

“It was to give the coaches information on call-ups, to get them updated about Likuena’s day-to-day business and the coaches appreciated the meeting,” he said.

When players are injured while on national team duty, whether it’s senior or junior teams, LEFA shoulders their recovery by making the association’s doctors and physiotherapists available to nurse their injuries.

However, it has happened that players are injured while with Likuena, and when they get to their teams, they play before they are fully healed and end up aggravating their injuries.

Kalati said many coaches watch when Likuena plays and they can help with advice on how they see things, as they are “part and parcel” of the national team.

With the league season drawing to a close, Likuena will also begin preparations for their 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Zimbabwe and Rwanda scheduled for June, which will be followed by the COSAFA Cup.

Tlalane Phahla

Lifofane are enjoying their best top-flight season since winning promotion in 2019.

The Butha-Buthe side are seventh in the Vodacom Premier League after a four-match unbeaten run and a win over relegation-threatened Manonyane on Sunday could see them catapult into the top six and within touching distance of an improbable top four finish.

The roots of Lifofane’s success can partly be traced back to 2020 when they shocked the country by capturing the Matekane Group of Companies (MGC) Top 4 tournament.

The Buthe-Buthe outfit bagged M195 000 for winning the knockout competition in Matšonyane and that money has helped the upstart club progress.

Lifofane were able to buy training equipment and gear to improve their on-field product and, off the field, some money was saved to cover the team’s food and transport costs on away days.

Five years later and Lifofane are reaping the benefits of their prudent management.

Their management choices include the hiring of Katiso Mojakhomo as coach in March last year and his arrival has been a home run – Lifofane have developed into a disciplined, well-oiled machine this season.

Mojakhomo is one of Lesotho’s most successful coaches having won back-to-back league titles in 2007 and 2008 with the Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) and his experience has allowed Lifofane to punch above their weight which was perfectly epitomised in their last two matches, a pair of 1-1 draws with Matlama and defending champions Bantu.

Both opponents were traditional giants desperately chasing the league title but Lifofane matched them blow for blow.

Mojakhomo said he is delighted with the improvement he has seen in his charges but there is still room to grow.

“It is our expectation to see the team at the top by the end of this Premier League season and we are going to work as hard as we can to make this happen,” he said.

Lifofane, of course, are not the league’s first surprise package.

Many clubs have had a good season or two before fading away.

Sundawana and Sky Battalion are just two teams over the past decade that have taken the elite league by storm for one campaign only to vanish from memory.

Mojakhomo said Lifofane’s vision extends beyond just doing well this season.

He said the club are determined not to allow their smaller stature to hinder their ambitions of establishing a long-term status in the premiership and competing with the big boys for seasons to come.

“There are many challenges that the team faces but we try to overcome them in as many ways as possible,” Mojakhomo said.

“The team’s management work together to come up with solutions.”

Moipone Makhoalinyane

Lesotho football legend Lehlohonolo Seema has praised his Sekhukhune United players after he was named Coach of The Month for February and March in South Africa’s DSTV Premiership.

It is the first time Seema has won the prestigious award in his coaching career and it rewards the impressive job he has done at Sekhukhune since joining the club in November from Polokwane City.

Sekhukhune United, or “Babina Noko”, are unbeaten over the last two months.

In the process, they have scored 11 goals and conceded just three times to shoot all the way up to fourth place in South Africa’s elite league.

Their unbeaten 2024 includes a five-match winning streak in which they beat Richards Bay 3-1 and Golden Arrows 1-0 in February and then dispatched Royal AM 1-0, Swallows 4-1 and Soweto giants Orlando Pirates 2-1 in March.

Seema told thepost he is delighted to receive the recognition, especially because it is his first time winning the award.

He also praised his players for their role in the team’s success.

His captain, Linda Mntambo, was named the DSTV Premiership player of the month and it is the first time a player and a coach from Sekhukhune United win the award.

“This recognition is the first-ever recognition in my life and for ‘Babina Noko’,” Seema said.

“I honour my players a great deal because, without them, I would not have been recognised. Their effort and passion has brought us this far.”

Seema said it is not easy coaching in the pressure cooker that is South Africa’s top-flight but his side have managed to navigate through the challenges they have encountered.

“The pressure in the DSTV Premiership is real. Every team is fighting but what helps me and the team is taking it one game at a time,” Seema said.

The highlight of Sekhukhune’s run over the past two months was their stunning 2-1 win on March 30 over Orlando Pirates, a side Seema captained during his playing days, which must have made that particular victory all the more sweeter.

The former Likuena captain said beating big teams like Orlando Pirates is not an easy assignment and Sekhukhune United’s victory showed him that the team was growing.

Now, Seema is gunning for nothing less than a top four finish at the end of the season.

A first-ever CAF Champions League spot for Sekhukhune United is also possible.

Finishing in the DSTV Premiership’s top two spots earns a coveted ticket to Africa’s premier club competition and Seema’s side are four points behind second-placed Stellenbosch with eight games to go.

Sekhukhune United’s next opponents?

Stellenbosch, at home, next Wednesday.

“Now we have to prepare well, more than before,” Seema said.

“Our schedule for the next games is very tight. If we will be playing against Stellenbosch on the 17th (of April) and on the 20th we are playing again against Cape Town Spurs, two days will not be enough – we have to start now to prepare for both games,’ he said.

Seema said his appreciation also goes to Sekhukhune United’s supporters.

“Their presence lifts us to win.”

Relebohile Tšepe