Mikia Kalati
Angola… (2) 4
Lesotho…0
Lesotho’s hopes of reaching their first Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament all-but ended last night following a 4-0 defeat to Angola in Luanda.
Likuena, as the national football team is popularly known, had started the match third on the four-team Group C, led by Gabon and second-placed Burkina Faso, with Angola bottom of the table.
Following last Friday’s goalless draw against the Angolans at Setsoto stadium and the 1-1 draw against Gabon, Likuena were hoping to beat the Palancas Negras in last night’s match, to keep alive their hopes of qualifying for their maiden Afcon tournament.
However, the home side were quick off the mark, scoring as early as the second minute of the match through Bartolomeu Bastos after Lesotho had conceded a free-kick just outside the box.
Bastos headed home a well-taken free kick by Gilberto to put the home side ahead, and send the crowd into delirium.
Likuena were very poor in defence, and also lacked fire-power upfront, and it was only a matter of time before they conceded yet again.
The inevitable goal came in the 33rd minute through Ary Papel, who put away a gilt-edged pass from skipper Gilberto.
The Seephephe Matete-coached side managed to shoot at goal towards the end of the first half when Tšepo Lekhooana headed over the bar.
The match went to the halftime break with Angola still enjoying a 2-0 lead over the extremely poor Likuena.
But things went from bad to worse for Likuena as they conceded an own goal just a few minutes into the second half.
Tšoanelo Koetle put the ball into his own net while trying to make a back pass to the rushing Liteboho Mokhesi, who started his second match for Likuena in goals.
From that moment, it was a one-way traffic as the Angolans made it 4-0 in the 57th minute when Arsenio struck for the Negras’ first set of three points, which saw them leapfrog Likuena into third place on four points and Lesotho anchoring the group on two.
The big loss for Likuena however, came after the players went on strike ahead of their return match against Angola, as they demanded M5000 allowances each, while the Lesotho Football Association could only offer M600.
Lesotho play Gabon and Burkina Faso in their remaining two group matches, with little hope of being one of the two teams that would automatically qualify for next year’s Afcon tournament to be held in Morocco.
