Mikia Kalati
Likuena’s performance in Saturday 1-0 loss to Burkina Faso at Setsoto stadium was the national football team’s worst since that goalless draw at the same venue against minnows Sao Tome and Principe in 2011.
Everything about the team was so poor on the day and it was no surprise that we conceded a goal inside the opening three minutes of the game.
Yet despite the early setback, our central defence pairing of captain Moitheri Ntobo and Basia Makepe, got better with time as it was their first time playing together on such a big stage.
Kholuoe Phasumane, who is usually inconsistent, also had a fair game between the sticks, but overally, there were a few positives on that dark, forgettable day.
Burkina Faso, who are now back at the top of Group C, were very poor on the day and I still feel had our senior players such as Bushy Moletsane, Motlalepula Mofolo and others, played, we surely would have come out with something better instead of that loss which ended our hopes of sneaking into the Finals in Equatorial Guinea next year.
I watched how Malawi, who had been struggling in the qualifiers, fielded their strongest team last weekend to beat Mali when their fans had even given up hope on their team.
The Flames fielded veterans such as Esau Kanyenda, Joseph Kamwendo and Fisher Kondowe, who all played key roles in the team’s 2-0 win over a very strong Mali side.
That’s how important experience can be, especially playing at home.
I still maintain that the manner in which the Lesotho Football Association (Lefa) handled the bonus row with the players is the reason that our team is struggling this much once again, yet these boys had shown so much promise a few months ago.
This was not the time to side-line key players just because they had gone on strike against the mother-body to press for reward for their sweat.
What breaks my heart is Likuena had looked so promising when they qualified for the group stage of the continental championship.
Our beloved national team had sweated blood when eliminating Liberia and Kenya to join Angola, Burkina Faso and Gabon in Group C of the last round of qualification, where only two teams from this pool would automatically make it to the Finals.
But like I have said before, I don’t support the players when they hold the country to ransom, but they still have every right to lodge such complaints when they feel they are being short-changed.
No player should be bigger than his club or country and Lefa should have handled this matter better by ensuring the players were clearly told when the issue would be addressed and why they were being offered a paltry M600 instead of the M5000 they were demanding.
We all know that some of these players depend on the bonuses to take care of their families as they don’t have fulltime jobs and unlike in other countries, get very little from football.
It really breaks my heart to see a player like Moletsane, who has served this country so well and for such a long time, being treated this way and discarded just like that simply because he asked for a living wage.
We should instead be celebrating him as an athlete and what he has done for his country.
I think we all saw that a number of the youngsters who have been brought into the team struggled against the Stallions on Saturday.
Of course it is good that a lot of youngsters are given the chance to play at the highest level, but they have to be gradually introduced to international football, and not the way they were thrown into the deep end at the weekend.
For me, a player I expected to be given a chance was Thabiso Brown, because he was head and shoulders above his teammates while still playing for the under-20 team, Makoanyane XI.
I mean, even a player like Phafa Tšosane, who is among the top players in our Premiership, is still struggling when it comes to Likuena as was the case on Saturday and this all shows that international football is a completely different ball game and should be given the respect it deserves.
The fact that Setsoto stadium was almost empty on Saturday tells it all—that there is something Lefa is not doing right.
I am disappointed with a lot of things that have not been handled well as far as our national team is concerned, which should be the pride of our country. Lefa needs to plan better for the future and like we have been saying, a lot of marketing has to be done to improve our game.
It is really a shame that the association could not afford to bring America-based Jane Tšotleho for some of these matches due to lack of funds.
Tšotleho and others based in the US have been doing very well and would surely have made a difference in these qualifiers and ensure Lesotho makes its debut appearance at the continental showcase.