Mikia Kalati
Lesotho midfielder, Jane ‘Sunny’ Tšotleho, who plies his trade in the American third-tier league with Wilmington Hammerheads FC, could soon break into the big time after attracting the attention of Major League Soccer (MLS) outfit, Chicago Fire.
According to former national team (Likuena) and Arsenal goalkeeper, Thabane Sutu, who took Tšotleho to the United States (US) as a 13-year-old 10 years ago, the youngster has been very impressive at Wilmington, and has since been invited for training and a closer look by Chicago Fire
The talented 23-year-old playmaker signed his first professional contract in February this year when he joined Hammerheads from the University of Maryland, and has never looked back, according to Sutu.
Speaking from his US base this week, Sutu said: “He is on top of his game at the moment and I have no doubt that he will make it at Chicago Fire. He has been invited to train with the MLS side before December, and I think he will make it.”
Meanwhile, Lesotho Football Association (Lefa) secretary general, Mokhosi Mohapi, told the Lesotho Times this week that the attacking midfielder would return for Likuena’s back-to-back 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) group stage qualifiers against Angola next month.
Mohapi said the player missed the Burkina Faso and Gabon Afcon ties because the association could not afford to fly him from his US base.
“I cannot shy away from it that we failed to fly him for this match because of our financial problems,” said Mohapi.
“What I can also tell you is that we would want to bring another local, Lepekola Seetane, who also plays his football in the US.”
Lepekola (19), a defensive midfielder, plays college football for North Western University.
“Things have improved a bit and buying their tickets will not be a problem this time around.”
“Jane has been superb since he started playing for the national team and we feel that Lepekola can also add value to the team.”
Mohapi further said the two matches against Angola, set for 10 and 15 October in Maseru and Lunada respectively, are very important for Lesotho hence the early start to the team’s preparations.
“The players started training yesterday (Monday), but they will only begin fulltime camp after the weekend of October 4-5, as most of them will be involved in the Independence Top 4 tournament featuring Bantu, Lioli, Linare and Matlama.”
