Moorosi Tsiane
LIKUENA coach Thabo Senong says his team will stop at nothing in its quest for its maiden CHAN qualification.
The senior national soccer side clashes with Zimbabwe in a make or break tie at Setsoto Stadium this afternoon.
The home side has a mammoth task of overturning a heavy 3-1 defeat that it suffered in the first leg in Harare last month.
If they are to qualify, Senong’s charges must beat the Warriors by a two-goal margin. In the process, they must also ensure that the visitors do not score more than once or they may end up progressing on away goals’ rule.
The former Bafana Bafana assistant coach told the Sunday Express on Friday that their preparations have gone well although they still have one player nursing an injury.
“Our preparations since last weekend’s friendly with Malawi have gone on well,” Senong said.
“My players are all ready for the job except for Tšepo Seturumane, who is still being assessed by our doctors. We are yet to know if he will be fit for Sunday.”
He said the morale in his camp has been high and all the players were aware of the big task awaiting them. He said they were determined and would stop at nothing to get a win.
“The morale is high and the players are all looking forward to the match. We all know how important the match is; this is one of the toughest yet important match so we will stop at nothing to get the results,” Senong said.
Senong said despite the defeat in Harare, they still stand a chance to qualify although they will have to apply themselves well.
“We still have a chance but if we don’t apply ourselves well, we might give the opponents a chance. We need an early goal and that will help reduce the pressure and improve our chances of winning.
“Goal scoring has been our biggest challenge but we have been working on it and we are just hoping that on Sunday (today), things will go well. We can’t guarantee that what we did in training will come out as we planned but we hope our boys perform to the best of their abilities. We know and believe that they can do this,” Senong said.
Senong said the players have responded well to their training but what is left is to work on their confidence so that they reduce their pressure.
“They (players) have responded well to the training. I think we now need to help them to play without pressure. They must have confidence and not fear.
“We have analysed our opponents and surely, they have done the same thing (instilling confidence). We know that they are not going to be pushovers and likewise, we should not be pushovers. We must play with discipline especially at the back because we can’t afford to open up and give Zimbabwe a chance to attack us. It’s not going to be easy but we are ready for the task,” Senong concluded.