Mikia Kalati
LIKUENA coach Moses Maliehe is relishing the prospect of fielding the American based duo of Jane ‘Sunny’ Tšotleho and Napo Matsoso for the international friendly against Mozambique as the national team fine tunes preparations for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Lesotho was drawn against Cape Verde, Uganda and Tanzania in the qualifiers which get underway with a clash with the latter in June.
Likuena will also play Comoros in an African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifier in July.
But before that, Maliehe’s charges will warm up with a friendly with Mozambique on 28 March which the coach welcomed.
“It’s a relief that we will get to play a competitive match during the FIFA calendar dates because we do not usually play around that time and we needed to prepare for the qualifiers in the best possible way,” Maliehe said.
“The match is also very important to Mozambique as the will also play in the same qualifiers.”
Maliehe said it would be ideal to have American duo of Tšotleho and Matsoso as they are expected to play a vital role in the team during Afcon campaign.
Tšotleho, popularly known as ‘Sunny” has won several caps since he was given a debut by Seephephe Matete in 2014 while Matsoso who has just broken into Major League Soccer is yet to play for his country after impressing in the US.
“The plan is to bring all our foreign-based players in order to have a strong squad and I believe we have a good chance in both the qualifiers.
“We have been communicating with the American based players and their clubs. The plan is to have them for all matches that fall under the FIFA dates,” he said.
Maliehe who took Likuena to the quarterfinals of last year’s regional COSAFA Cup said he was happy with the progress of the new look team.
The team had to be reshuffled after most of the players that impressed in Namibia turned down national team call-ups.
“I have confidence in the players that I have selected and things have shaped up nicely.
“We have added experienced players who have played international football and I believe that the friendly with Mozambique will help us assess progress before the big match against Tanzania,” he said.
