Moorosi Tsiane
MATLAMA technical director Mosito Matela has welcomed the CAF Champions League draw that saw the country’s most decorated team being paired against Angolan heavyweights Atletico Petroleos De Luanda.
He however, said the dates are too close for the team to have proper preparations.
The reigning Econet Premier League champions will start their CAF campaign in the second weekend of August at Setsoto Stadium with the return leg set for the weekend of 24 and 25 August in Luanda.
De Luanda have made seven appearances in the CAF Champions’ League and their biggest achievement was in 2001 when they reached the semifinals.
Matela told the Lesotho Times this week that while they are relieved that they got a team from Angola, the matches are fixtures are too close.
“I think the Angolan league is not that far ahead to ours so being drawn against one of their teams is a relief,” Matela said.
“I don’t think they will give us much of a problem. However, our only worry is the players’ lack of fitness because we anticipated that the games would start in September just like last season. We have been caught off-guard as we only have two weeks to prepare. This means that we have to change our programme to accommodate these matches.
“Fortunately, some players are with the national team which is preparing for the CHAN competition and this keeps them fit. We just need to push the rest of the players to get them fit in time.”
Matela said they would however, not undermine their opponents. He said they would sit down to watch their opponents’ videos to see how they play.
“We cannot afford to undermine them. They are the most successful team in Angola so we need to be extremely careful, so we will try to learn how they play from their videos,” he said.
Matela also said the newly appointed Malawian coach, Charles Manda, was settling well into the team.
“He strikes me as a person who knows what he is doing and he understands how we want to do things here. He has been helpful especially in helping our players with speed. However, the worrying fact is that we are now racing against time in preparing the team.”
Matela also said they need to reinforce their strike force and replace Motebang Sera who joined Bloemfontein Celtic last week.
“We need to reinforce our striking department. We need a striker who can fill in Sera’s boots and can help us compete with other big teams. For the Champions’ League, I think we are already late because the list of players has already been submitted,” Matela.
The last time Matlama participated in the Champions’ League was in 2010 where they were knocked out in the preliminary stages by SuperSport United of South Africa.
