Mikia Kalati
LIKUENA coach Moses Maliehe says his side stands a good chance of beating Comoros to progress to the second round of the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) to be staged in Kenya.
The CHAN tournament which features only locally based players was conducted in Gabon last year.
The two countries faced off in the qualifiers of the 2018 World Cup preliminary round and the islanders progressed on the away goals rule.
There is not much separating the sides with Comoros (at number 141) ranked one place above Lesotho in the world governing body, FIFA rankings and for Maliehe, this is a “good chance to win though we cannot underestimate them because they are a good side”.
“My under-20 team came against them during the regional COSAFA Cup in 2013 and you could see the signs that they were doing something right.
“It will depend on the attitude of our players because if the mind is right then we can get to the next phase of the competition at their expense.”
The Likuena mentor said he was aiming to utilise the March international calendar to play a friendly match because it would be a busy year for his team that would also take part in the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers where they were drawn against Uganda, Tanzania and Cape Verde.
The tournament will hosted by newly crowned champions Cameroon.
“It is going to be a busy year as we play Tanzania in AFCON qualifiers before we take on Comoros and so we have to be ready.
“That is why I want to have a big pool of players to do well in the two competitions.
“We have a really good chance of qualifying for both and it will boil down to attitude and proper preparations,” he said.
Maliehe expressed his desire to hand America’s Major Soccer League star, Napo Matsoso his debut against Tanzania in June.
“I want to have the best possible line-up for the AFCON qualifiers that is why I plan to bring our boys playing in the US.
“We are looking at all our foreign-based players in order to come up with the best possible line-up for these important matches,” he said.
Likuena has never qualified for a major international competition.
