Tough group for Mehalalitoe

MASERU – Lesotho’s senior women’s team, Mehalalitoe, have been drawn against Namibia, Zambia and Eswatini in the 2022 Women’s COSAFA Championships slated to start at the end of this month.

The tournament will be played in Gqeberha in South Africa.

Lesotho head coach Pule Khojane said the team is busy preparing for the championships. Reacting to the draw, Khojane said Mehalalitoe were prepared to face whichever team they were drawn against.

He said they have picked a different team to the one that was battered in the 2020 edition of COSAFA Women’s Championship.

The new Lesotho squad is based on a fresh core of young players and Khojane said he believes they will not be affected by past score-lines because they were not part of those teams that were beaten heavily.

“It’s all about mental strength. As a coach I am always working on defence and attack, but the team we have now is mostly new players that were not part of those heavy score-lines. I don’t think they will be affected by that,” Khojane said.

“It’s football, you have to prepare for whoever you get.”

“You cannot say this team is better than the other. We are now training and preparing for the tournament.”

In 2021, the Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) opted against registering the country’s national women’s teams in international competitions for the rest of the year due to a lack of preparations

caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. That decision meant the senior team, Mehalalitoe, missed last year’s edition.
The last time Mehalalitoe played in the COSAFA Women’s Championship was in 2020 and they were humiliated. Their first game was against Zambia and they suffered a humiliating 8-0 defeat.

As if that was not embarrassing enough, Lesotho went on to lose 9-0 to Malawi in the following game meaning they conceded 17 goals without reply in their two Group B matches at the tournament.

01/09
Lesotho vs. Eswatini
04/09
Lesotho vs. Zambia
06/09
Lesotho vs. Namibia

Tlalane Phahla