Makoanyane XI go for broke

Luciah Phahla

MASERU

Lesotho Under-20 national captain Tšepo Toloane says the Makoanyane XI have nothing to lose in Saturday’s 2017 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations qualifying decider against South Africa.

Lesotho goes into the game seeking to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg with the prize a place in the eight-team continental finals set for Zambia next February.

Despite the odds, Toloane said the Makoanyane XI can pull off an upset.

“It will not be an easy game because we are playing away from home but we don’t have anything to lose, we will just keep fighting,” Toloane told thepost on Tuesday.

He added: “I think we have prepared enough for this game. In the first leg we did everything but they scored two goals. I just hope luck will be on our side this time around and I hope we can score three goals. They did not even dominate the first leg.”

In preparation for Saturday’s do-or-die clash, the Makoanyane XI played a pair of shortened practice games against Sundawana on Tuesday.

Both ended goalless.

Motlalepula Majoro’s charges, however, were again without trusted striker Roboama Koloti who was still nursing an injury. Koloti also missed the first leg against South Africa two Sundays ago.

Nonetheless, Koloti made the trip to Bloemfontein yesterday with his teammates and Toloane was hopeful the Sundawana starlet would spearhead Lesotho’s attack on Saturday.

“He is the kind of player that works very hard, (and) can score goals,” the Under-20 skipper said.

“I think we missed him in the first game,” he admitted. “We did create chances that I believe he could have scored if he was available.”

Toloane concluded: “All we want is to win this match. They scored against us at home and we can also be hopeful that we can score (against) them at their home.”

Saturday’s decider will be played at Dr Molemela Stadium in Bloemfontein. Kick-off is at 3pm.