Fothoane thrives in new role at Bantu

MASERU – Bantu star midfielder Lehlohonolo Fothoane says he is enjoying his football again after South Africa-born coach, Moeketsi Abram Mangoya, helped to reinvent his style of play at the Mafeteng outfit.

The Likuena midfielder who has been the poster boy for A Matšo Matebele since joining them from Swallows in 2017, is second in the Vodacom Premier League goal-scoring charts with nine goals.

This is the first time that he has scored more than five goals in a season.

He is three goals behind Hlomelang Lebina of LCS, who leads the charts with 12 goals.

Mangoya, who was appointed Bantu coach before the start of the 2022/2023 season, is an experienced coach who has served the likes of Orlando Pirates and Sekhukhune United as a youth coach.

He was also the assistant coach to Rhulani Mokwena and Eric Tinkler during their time at Chippa United in the South African Premiership.

“Coach Mangoya did his homework before coming to Lesotho and got a chance to talk with former Likuena coach, Thabo Senong, who helped to give him information about players like myself,” Fothoane said.

“So, he was informed that I like creating chances for others even where I have an opportunity to score and likened me to Themba Zwane of Mamelodi Sundowns.

“He told me that I do everything just like Zwane, but the only thing that is missing in my football was scoring goals and I needed to work on it. That is why I’m now among the top goal scorers in the league.”

Fothoane was not among the goals when Bantu came from two goals down to beat Liphakoe 4-2, but is now challenging himself to score over 15 goals this season.

The Mafeteng based outfit are at the summit of the league table with 49 points from 20 games played thus far and the star midfielder is confident his team will go all the way to reclaim the league title from Matlama.

“The target for now is not to win the golden boot but to score over 15 goals especially now that I’m already at nine goals, which is more than I have ever scored since I started playing football,” the midfielder said.

“I have always focused on creating opportunities for others but the coach has challenged me to improve my game by scoring and I’m enjoying it so far.

“It’s the one thing that was lacking in my football and I hope by reinventing the way I play will come with the rewards at the end of the season,” he said.

The talented midfielder, who had several scouts and South African clubs monitoring him after impressive displays at the 2021 COSAFA Cup, admitted that he still dreams of playing his football outside the country before he retires.

“It’s still a dream to one day play my football outside the country and who knows what will happen now that I’m scoring goals regularly, it might work wonders for me in terms of winning a contract to play in big leagues,” Fothoane said.

“The coach has been encouraging me a lot which is a big motivation for every player to play with confidence and he has also told me that I have the attributes to play in South Africa, where he has coached.

“I’m also playing for the national team, so anything is possible in football and I would be happy to make a big move before I hang my boots,” he said.

Mikia Kalati