By Moorosi Tsiane
MASERU — The friendly match between the Lesotho national Under-20 team, Makoanyane XI, and their South African counterparts, Amajita, has been called off due to unpreparedness on the part of SA.
According to the Makoanyane XI coach, Moses Maliehe, their would-be opponents informed them on Tuesday that the match could not go on as planned since the South African Football Association (Safa) had not yet assembled a first team to compete in the tournament.
“We were surprised when Safa informed us that the match will no longer proceed as planned because they have not yet selected the final team that is going to compete in the tournament,” Maliehe said.
The match was to form part of Makoanyane XI friendly matches lined up as part of preparations for the upcoming Council of Southern African Football Association (Cosafa) Under-20 championships set for December 3.
The 14-nation prominent competition will be played in the two districts of Maseru and Mafeteng at Setsoto and Leshoboro Seeiso stadiums respectively.
He, however, said that the cancellation was a blessing in disguise for the team following the long trips to Swaziland and Mozambique this past weekend.
“The players will get some time to rest before the tournament kicks off,” Maliehe said.
Makoanyane XI played a one-all draw against Swaziland and a goalless draw against Mozambique.
Meanwhile, the team is currently in camp getting ready for the competition and Maliehe said he was impressed with the performances displayed in the weekend games although he pointed that there was still a lot of work to do in the goal scoring department.
“I am very impressed with how we played but goal scoring is still a worrying matter.
“We seem to struggle when we come to the last third of the pitch but we are working on it in training,” Maliehe said.
Makoanyane XI will face Comoros on the opening day of the tournament before taking on Kenya and Mauritius in the remaining group games.
