Pascalinah Kabi

MASERU — Lesotho’s Under-17 national team will next month lock horns with South Africa and Angola in a Four Nations Tournament in Cape Town, South Africa.

The tournament will run from April 20 to 25, with the fourth nation yet to be confirmed.

The Four Nations Tournament is an annual event played in remembrance of the people who were killed in the 1960s Sharpville Massacre in South Africa.

Lesotho’s Under-17 side, affectionately known as Bahlabani, will be playing their first international game after crashing out of Caf Under 17 Youth Championships qualifiers in September when they lost to Cameroon.

Bahlabani coach Bishop Molatoli told the Sunday Express that 30 players were currently undergoing trials.

“There are currently about 30 players attending trials but I will need only 12 for the Cape Town tourney (Four Nations),” Molatoli said.

“We are building a new team altogether because we promoted 20 players to the Under-20 side and are left with only eight regular players,” he said.

Molatoli said it was too early to tell if his charges were ready for the Four Nations tournament.

“We will take part in the games but I can’t say we are ready for these games because we just started three weeks ago with the trials.

“They are good players and I am not ashamed to say that because they have all proved they can be in the team since we started the trials,” he said.

He however said the technical team is going to recruit more players from Leribe and Mafeteng districts.

“We still need to bring more players into the team. This weekend I will be travelling to Mafeteng and next week to Leribe to scout more talent,” Molatoli said on Thursday.

“I am also going to organise at least two international friendly matches against Botswana and Swaziland as part of our preparations for the Cape Town tournament,” he said.