Leemisa Thuseho
LESOTHO’S Under-20 men’s national soccer team is starting its 2020 COSAFA camp tomorrow.
The competition will be held in Nelson Mandela Bay from 3 to 13 December.
Lesotho Football Association (LeFA) media officer Mikia Kalati said all is set for the tea to start its preparations.
“The team is starting preparations on Monday,” Kalati said on Friday.
He said the players would commute from their respective homes to training sessions until the final squad is selected and assembled at the end of November.
Makoanyane XI coach Bafokeng Mohapi has called a provisional squad of 26 players which will be trimmed later.
Lesotho was last week drawn in Group A along with long-time rivals South Africa and Zimbabwe. Mozambique are also in the same group.
Defending champions Zambia are in Group B alongside Malawi, Namibia and Comoros Islands while Group C is made up of Angola, eSwatini and Botswana.
Only the top team in each pool and the best-placed runners-up advance to the semi-finals.
The championship will also be used a qualifying tournament for the Under-20 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) scheduled for Mauritania in February and March 2021.
The AFCON tournament will in turn serve as the qualifiers for the 2021 FIFA Under-20 World Cup pencilled in for Indonesia from 20 May to 12 June 2021. The top four sides in the African competition will head for the global finals.
In the past two editions, Makoanyane XI failed to go beyond the group stages only reaching the finals in 2005 and 2017 and Mohapi this week said despite being drawn in a tough group, they are hoping to reach the finals of this year’s edition.
Apart from starting off with a huge pool of players to enhance variety, Mohapi hopes that his side will get a chance to play at least two friendlies with Econet Premier League teams. The side is also expecting to play Botswana in South Africa before the commencement of the tournament.
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