MASERU — When the Vodacom Soccer Spectacular explodes into life on Saturday everyone will be waiting to see if Bantu can maintain their rich vein of form when they take on Lesotho Correctional Service (LCS).
The fixture comes a week after the two sides clashed in the Independence Cup final last Saturday.
Bantu thrashed the correctional side 3-1 to end their 17-year trophy drought.
This Saturday the Mafeteng side will again meet their great nemesis in the Vodacom Soccer Spectacular.
Telecommunications giants, Vodacom Lesotho, are sponsoring this year’s tournament to the tune of M1 million.
The winners will walk away with a M360 000 cheque.
In their last outing A Matšo Matebele surprised everyone when they thrashed Masheshena 3-1.
It is however not going to be easy for Bantu this time round as LCS would want to kick-start their preparations for the prestigious African Champions League tournament on a high note.
Champions League begins in February.
LCS, who lifted the inaugural Vodacom Soccer Spectacular Cup in 2008, would want to prove to their supporters that there is still life after their morale-sapping defeat last Saturday.
On the other hand Bantu go into the tie buoyed by their Independence Cup victory and would want to continue adding more silverware into their cabinet.
“I still want to repeat what I did with Masheshena and proceed to the next stage of the competition,” Ndebele “Tata” Taole, Bantu’s technical director, said on Tuesday.
He told the Lesotho Times that beating Masheshena on Saturday would pave the way to lifting a second trophy.
“If we win the game against Masheshena on Saturday, we will be certain that we are going to win the Spectacular because they are the most difficult and one of the biggest teams in the country.
“Winning against Masheshena will make things easier for us than facing the other teams in the Top Four,” Taole said.
But LCS coach, Mosholi Mokhothu, said they were itching for revenge.
“This time round we are going to seek revenge by ensuring that Bantu are out of the competition.
“They must also feel the pain they inflicted on us last Saturday,” Mokhothu said on Tuesday.
He however said they were working on three things that cost them the win against Bantu.
“Since I was not with the team for two weeks prior to the Top 4 finals, I realised that there were three things missing in our team.
“Lack of concentration at the beginning of the game, inability to finish clear cut chances and lack of discipline on our side are the three things we are currently working on as part of our preparations for the game.
“The boys know that we must always avoid receiving red cards because that puts too much pressure on our side,” Mokhothu said.
Meanwhile, the national soccer team has been forced to postpone its training camp for the crucial tie against Burundi because of the Vodacom Soccer Spectacular.
Likuena were set to go into camp on Monday but the camp has been postponed to next week due to the weekend games.
Likuena team manager, Khiba Mohoanyane told the Lesotho Times they did not want any disruptions while in camp.
“We had to postpone camp to Monday because of the Soccer Spectacular,” Mohoanyane said.
Spectacular Weekend fixture:
Saturday: Maduma vs Linare
LCS vs Bantu
Sunday: Lioli vs Matlama
LDF vs Majantja
