MASERU — Bahlabani, Lesotho’s Under-17 national team, have vowed to floor Mozambique when the two sides square up in the first leg of a CAF Under-17 Championship qualifier at Bambatha Tsita on Sunday.
The local starlets go into the match following good showing against South African sides in warm-up matches in the past weeks.
If Bahlabani have learnt anything from their participation in a four-nation tournament in South Africa last year, their confidence is probably not misplaced.
They finished the tournament third after beating Botswana 3-0, although they had drawn 1-1 against Swaziland and lost 3-0 to South Africa.
Bahlabani coach Bishop Molatoli (pictured) said their strike force had been their Achilles’ heel.
“We are currently working on our striking force because they needed some strong reinforcement,” Molatoli told the Lesotho Times this week.
“But we are definitely going to win (against Mozambique).”
Molatoli said they wanted to win comfortably to make the return leg in Mozambique in a fortnight’s time a mere formality.
“Judging by their record, Mozambique are a strong team but we are going to make sure that we win this game,” he said.
“We are working extra hard to make sure that we beat them and ensure the second leg in Maputo is just a formality.”
Molatoli said Bahlabani’s friendly match against their South African counterparts, which Lesotho won 1-0, had given him an opportunity to finetune his charges ahead of Sunday’s qualifier.
“The South African friendly match gave me the opportunity to see our weaknesses so that we could rectify them before the real competition on Sunday.”