Moorosi Tsiane
MEHALALITOE lost 2-1 to Mozambique to crash out of the 2018 COSAFA Women championship with a match to spare in the ongoing tournament in Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
The Monaheng Montšo coached outfit also lost their opening match 2-0 to Zambia and will play Cameroon in their last match at 3pm on Tuesday.
Mozambique were the first to score early in second half before Litšeoane Maloro equalized few minutes later.
However, a lapse of concentration worked against Mehalalitoe as they let Mozambique retain the lead towards the dying minutes of the match.
In post-match interview from Port Elizabeth yesterday, Montšo said his charges played well and were just unlucky to lose the match.
“Compared to our first match, today we had a good game and we were just unlucky to miss the chances that we created,” Montšo said.
“We missed one on one situations thrice in the game which we should have buried.
“I do not think the stage was too difficult for my players but excitement worked against them because they celebrated even before scoring those clear-cut chances and at the end they failed to convert.”
He said although he was sad that they crushed out of the tournament, he said he was grateful for the chance to learn.
“It is sad that we are already out of the tourney with a match to spare but there are some positives that we will be taking from the two matches that we have played so far. We are still learning.
“Most importantly, we need to work hard on our physical strength as we are lacking a lot.”
Montšo said they will go into the Cameroon match to fight for their pride.
“The fact that we are already out does not mean we have to play just to fulfil the fixture. We are going to fight for our name. Of course, it is not going to be easy because Cameroon are one of the biggest teams on the continent but we will fight,” he said.
This is the second successive time that Lesotho have failed to advance to the next stage of the tournament after they also lost two games and won one in Group C last year.
The lost 3-0 to South Africa and lost with the same score to Botswana before they beat Namibia 2-1.
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