We’ll be back stronger: Khojane

PORT ELIZABETH – Lesotho women’s team head coach, Pule Khojane, has backed his players to grow from their 2022 COSAFA Women’s Championship experience.
Khojane was speaking at a press conference on Tuesday after Mehalalitoe were knocked out of the competition by Namibia in Gqeberha, South Africa.
Although Mehalalitoe could not make it out of the group stage, they head back home with their heads held high after a big improvement from their 2020 horror show at the same tournament when they conceded 17 goals without reply.
When Mehalalitoe left the country last week, they were determined to write a new chapter and it feels the team is turning the corner.
Lesotho played well and put on a particularly good display when they thrashed Eswatini 3-0 in their opening game last Friday.
It was Lesotho’s first international win since April 2018 and it is not just the fact that Khojane’s side were able to get three points which impressed, it was the performance they put on the field throughout.
Even though Mehalalitoe lost to Zambia on Sunday in their next game, they went into Tuesday’s final game against Namibia with a chance of qualifying for the semi-finals if they won.
Mehalalitoe made a bright start and threatened to open the scoring, however, against the run of play, Namibia took the lead in the 17th minute before sealing a 2-0 win in the 55th minute.
A proud Khojane said it was a learning curve for his young team.
“We came here with a young squad (but) we wanted to compete at the same time. I think the game today was more testing for us mentally than physically, I congratulate Namibia, but we will come back stronger next time,” he said.
Khojane said they will now go back to the drawing board and work on correcting mistakes from the games, especially in the goalkeeping department.
“You need more experienced players but the game itself is a teacher, we are content that what we did there is not much of a problem. The goals we conceded are more of a goalkeeping department which is what we are going to work on,” he continued.
One thing is for sure, it was a boost to have Lesotho’s captain and record goalscorer, Boitumelo Rabale, available. Rabale, who plays for African champions Mamelodi Sundowns, showed her immense class with a hattrick against Eswatini.
Set-pieces also worked well for Mehalalitoe in that game with Rabale scoring a from a free-kick and a corner before she rounded off her hattrick with a tap in after a brilliant work out wide by Mosele Pita.
The feeling amongst Mehalalitoe players after the tournament was that the team has taken a step forward, and they can only get better from here.
Khojane said women’s football is growing and the COSAFA Women’s Championship gave the players the platform to grow and measure themselves.
The key now is to build on the performance. He said one area to improve is the players’ mental strength.
“I think the group was fair, there is no easy group, all the teams want to compete and win,” Khojane said.
“The girls are still young, we will work with them psychologically so that they can be able to handle pressure,” he continued.
“They wanted to win and sometimes when things don’t go their way, they go down a little bit and they can’t handle it.”

Lesotho’s last 10 matches:

Final Group B standings:

Tlalane Phahla