Mikia Kalati
MASERU — Likuena blew a 1-0 lead to eventually lose 2-1 to South Africa in the Cosafa Cup third-place play-off in Ndola, Zambia, yesterday. Lesotho went into the lead 30 minutes into the game after utility player Jeremiah Kamele was pulled inside the penalty box.
Bantu captain, Tlali Maile, stepped up to the task and easily beat Bafana Bafana goalkeeper, Wayne Sandilands for the opening goal of the match. Earlier in the match, Lesotho’s goalkeeper, Kholuoe Phasumane, made a great save to deny South Africa the lead after Mzikayise Mashaba found himself in a good goal scoring position after a good back heel pass from Lerato Chabangu.
Gordon Igesund’s side got another chance in the 40th minute as Maile followed his penalty by clearing the ball from the line with goalkeeper Phasumane already beaten after failing to deal with a cross. Bafana Bafana finally found the breakthrough in the dying minutes of the first half as Mandla Masango punished Lesotho from a cleverly taken free kick by Chabangu.
The match went into the half time break with the teams tied at one-all. Then, shortly after the half-time break Hlompho capitalised on poor Likuena defending and a goalkeeping error to put his team into the lead.
Despite the setback, Likuena were able to fight back and dictate play which saw South Africa conceding the second penalty of the match to give Lesotho a chance to get the equalizing goal.
Maile turned from hero to villain when his second penalty was saved by Sandilands to deny Lesotho the equalising goal. Likuena coach, Leslie Notši, made two back-to-back changes bringing in striker Lehlomela Ramabele for the injured Thapelo Tale while Mabuti Potloane replacing Janefeke Molibeli. The substitutions did not help the Lesotho team as South Africa held on to the 2-1 lead to claim the bronze spot after finishing as the third-placed team.
Lesotho finished the tournament as the highest scoring team having scored 10 goals in six matches. Likuena started the campaign with a two-all draw against Kenya and they played a 3-3 draw against Botswana in the second game before registering a 2-0 win over Swaziland in the final match of the group stages which saw them finish ahead of Botswana and Kenya as winners of Group B.
They then overcame Angola 5-3 in the quarter-finals and lost 1-2 to Zimbabwe in the semi-final. Striker Thapelo Tale finished as runner-up in the goal scoring charts behind Botswana’s Jerome Ramatlhakwana who ended the competition with four goals. Notši praised his team despite the loss to South Africa that saw them throw away the lead and missing a penalty.
“I’m very happy with the team’s performance,” Notši said. “Credit should be given to the players for their never-die attitude that saw them fight back, giving our opponents a run for their money.” He said his team were very unlucky not to have taken the match to penalties. “I’m very proud of the players, they have made their country proud with an improved performance and reaching the semi-finals of the regional competition,” said Notši.