Moorosi Tsiane
LIKUENA assistant coach, Halemakale Mahlaha, believes the national football team will beat Liberia when the two foes meet in the return leg of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier on May 31 at Setsoto Stadium.
Likuena, as the national team is popularly known, narrowly lost 1-0 in Sunday’s first leg of the second round qualifier played at the Antoinette Tubman Stadium in Monrovia.
South Africa-based striker Anthony Laffor, who plays for Sundowns, scored the only goal of the match in the 40th minute after a neat pass from CSKA Moscow midfielder, Sekou Jabateh.
Liberian media reports suggest while the Lone Stars, as the Liberia team is known, “enjoyed more ball-possession and created several goal-scoring chances”, they could not get past Lesotho’s “well-built” defence.
The reports also point out the result could have been different had Lesotho striker, Thapelo Tale, not been unlucky to see his “beautiful” free kick hit the crossbar twice.
Mahlaha on Monday told the Lesotho Times the 1-0 loss augured well for Likuena, adding Liberia were never much of a threat to Lesotho, hence his optimism for a convincing win at Setsoto.
“The Liberians did not pose us much danger — only that we gave them too much room to play, which allowed them ball-possession for longer periods.
“Because they had the ball longer, we ended up making mistakes and unfortunately conceded that goal.
“However, we will beat them at home, although I know it is going to take a lot of hard work and commitment,” Mahlaha said.
In the return leg, Mahlaha said the strikers would need to be more clinical if Likuena, who have never qualified for the Afcon tournament, are to beat Liberia, who made it to the 1996 and 2002 editions of the biennial event.
“We will have to work a lot on our frontline and midfield. The midfielders need to create more chances for the strikers, while we will also have to remain disciplined at the back because we can’t concede if we are to advance to the next stage of the competition.”
The former Lioli and Matlama coach revealed the technical department was looking at adding a new striker to the team, as Likuena go for the kill in the return fixture.
“We have to work on our attacking department coming into the second match, because it is a must-win for us, while they can go through with a draw.
“And I believe we need to add one or two strikers into our squad, although it will be up to the coach if he thinks there is such a need,” Mahlaha added.
According to Mahlaha, the defence does not need to be tinkered with, although it still needs to be tweaked.
“Our defence is good, but needs some touch-ups, especially the boys’ attitude because they tend to lose concentration at crucial times.”
On his part, Liberia coach, Thomas Kojo told the local media in a post-match interview: “We won the game and the three points are the most important thing here.
“We need to improve and prepare physically, tactically and technically for the return leg in Lesotho. Lesotho played well today and we expect a tough second leg”.
Meanwhile, winners of this encounter face champions of the Comoros/Kenya tie in the third round, with the winner joining Burkina Faso, Angola, and Gabon in Group C of the final phase of the qualifiers.
