Seephephe ‘Mochini’ Matete started his current stint as Likuena interim coach with flying colours, knocking out Liberia in the first round of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) tournament.
Now the veteran mentor has another big responsibility on his hands as his team face Kenya on Sunday at Setsoto stadium in the first leg match of the second round of the same football tournament.
One can rightly say a convincing win over the Harambee Stars on Sunday will see Likuena put one leg in the group stage of the continental competition heading to the second leg match in two weeks’ time.
In the first round, Likuena lost 1-0 in the away match to Liberia, but were able to comeback strongly in the second leg tie played here at home winning 2-0 to advance to the next stage of the qualifiers.
The team gave a very satisfying performance in the win over the West Africans and showed a lot of improvement in their play.
We are all now waiting to see if our beloved national team can make history by beating the East African nation in the two-legged qualifier.
Getting past the Harambee Stars will book Likuena a place in the group stage where they will join Angola, Burkina Faso and Gabon in Group C.
Can our boys give a spirited fight the way they did against Liberia and book a place in the final stage of the qualifiers?
I must say a win over Kenya will come at a prize because the East African team also have a very good and powerful squad with some of their members plying their trade in big leagues in Europe.
Coming to our own team, I feel Likuena had a fair amount of time to prepare for this tie against the Harambee Stars.
Matete has also added some experience and new manpower in Ralekoti Mokhahlane, who will strengthen our midfield.
Mokhahlane was overlooked in the previous matches as he had been inactive at club level due to disciplinary issues.
Despite him struggling to hold a regular place in the Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS) side this past season because of some off-field problems, there is no doubt against a strong Kenyan midfield consisting of McDonald Mariga and Victor Wanyama, we also need our own hard man in Mokhahlane as he has proved his quality at the bigger stage on many occasions.
Well, another headache for Matete on Sunday will be the absence of star-player Bokang ‘Lefty’ Mothoana, who will miss the two matches due to injury.
This is a very important match and Matete needs all his soldiers to be available for selection and like the coach said, it is a big blow that Lefty won’t be able to take part on Sunday.
I hope our boys will rise to the occasion once again, the same way they did against Liberia, and beat Kenya because we desperately need to maintain those standards and go all the way to play in the group stages of the Morocco competition.
Good luck Likuena!
