The national soccer team gave a great performance on Sunday against Kenya to keep alive their hopes of reaching the group stage of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
The hard-fought 1-0 win over the fancied Kenyans at Setsoto stadium gave Likuena the much-needed advantage going into the return leg of this second round qualifier, scheduled for Nairobi in two weeks’ time.
It needed a well-taken 63rd minute header by Tšepo Seturumane to break the deadlock following an inch-perfect cross by Bushy Moletsane.
Like the coach, Seephephe Matete, said, it was not a great game by his charges as they struggled to play the way did against Liberia in the first round of the qualifiers, but what matters is that we won the game and bagged the maximum three points.
The potential to do well has always been there for everyone to see, particularly beginning in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.
It was during that campaign that the team managed to grab a win away from home in over a decade, beating Sudan 3-1 in Khartoum last September.
Likuena also reached the semi-final stage of the Cosafa tournament played in Zambia in July last year.
All these were signs that the days of us being called the whipping boys of African football were slowly coming to an end.
Most of the players in the current Likuena squad have been playing international football together for over three years now and it was important that they came to the party to help the team do well in the Afcon qualifiers.
Credit must also go to interim coach Matete, who has defied the criticism levelled against him after taking the job, by delivering the results when it matters most.
Matete started his tenure on a bad note, failing to win two of the friendly matches Likuena played against Swaziland, but there has been a big improvement since then.
The veteran coach took-over a team that had grown a lot under the mentorship of Leslie Notši.
Matete decided to keep the core of the side because he was aware consistency was key in order to compete and today, we are all happy and proud to be Basotho after many agonising years during which Likuena had become a pain to watch.
I also feel our players deserve special mention as I have never seen them so committed and focused on doing their country proud.
These boys are now showing the character of troops who have gone to war for their country.
Credit should also go to veteran players such as captain, Moitheri Ntobo and Bushy Moletsane, who, despite their long service, remain humble and are leading by example on and off the field.
However, Likuena’s biggest test will come in the second-leg match, and we all saw that Kenya have a very strong team and our boys will have to double their effort to complete the mission in Nairobi.
The Harambee Stars are as desperate as Likuena to book a place in the group stage of the qualifiers and qualify for the finals set for Morocco.
The Lesotho Football Association (Lefa) must, therefore, make sure everything is in place for the team ahead of the decisive reverse fixture as we don’t need and any distraction at this stage of the game.
So my advice is we should prepare for anything in Nairobi as African nations have proved over and over again, that they are very good at playing mind-games especially at this level of continental competitions.
Maybe it would not be a bad idea to have a delegation flying to the East African country before the match to prepare for Likuena’s arrival and make sure the accommodation and training base are exactly what the team will nee
