Moses Maliehe looks to build Likuena again

Starting again from scratch... Likuena is a new team

A new era for Likuena has begun. Two weeks ago Lesotho boss Moses Maliehe announced his first squad as national coach. The squad includes numerous new faces forced onto the coach because of the retirements of several key players.

The team started training in the last week of December and is preparing for the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers which begin in April.

The CHAN qualifiers will be one of Lesotho’s major competitive engagements in 2017 and one of the main tests of Maliehe’s one-year contract as Likuena coach.

Only players that play their trade in their local leagues are allowed to participate in the tournament which is held every two years. The next edition is scheduled for Kenya in 2018 and the qualifiers start on April 20. Likuena will also start their 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers in June where Lesotho has been pitted in Group L alongside Uganda, Tanzania and Cape Verde.

Maliehe initially called up a squad a week following his appointment on December 6 as Likuena boss. However, his preparations were halted after several players refused to show up for camp.

Maliehe said he was disappointed by the retirements of the players which include captain Basia Makepe and other key performers such as Kopano Tseka, Tumelo Khutlang and Tšepo Seturumane.

“We have a problem of players who retired from the national team,” Maliehe said. “We had call-ups before the Christmas break when we were going to Lehakoe (Gym) and they didn’t turn up. We are preparing for the CHAN. We are playing in April and we have already started preparing,” Maliehe said.

Despite the setback of not having his preferred group of players, Maliehe said it was a chance for the new faces to grab their opportunity in the national team.

“It is their chance to take,” Maliehe said. “They have the potential and the ability. We have Basotho players with talent all over the country. If a player has the talent and is performing well they have the right to play for the national team.”

"If a player has the talent, they have the right to play for Likuena."
- Lesotho coach Moses Maliehe

With things being as they are, Maliehe has chosen a team with a mixture of youth and experience. The youngest player is Under-20 international Lehlohonolo Fothoane from Swallows and Maliehe said he always likes to call up a handful of younger prospects in his squads.

“If you look at my national teams, even if look back to the Under-20 when I was coach, I always have players that are much younger that the rest of the group in order to bring them into the set-up and give them experience that will help their development,” Maliehe said.

“He is a future player, let me put it that way,” Maliehe added regarding Fothoane. “He is a player that can help us now but this is a chance for him to experience this level of football.”

“There is also Johannes Molapo from Sundawana,” Maliehe continued of the Tse Bo Yellow captain who has just returned to fitness after five months out with a fractured leg.

“(Molapo) is fine now,” he said. “He has trained well up to now. He is a good defender; when you watch him you may even think he is a midfielder because he is so good with the ball.”

In a wide-ranging discussion with the Molapo Sports Centre, Maliehe said he had already sent out requests for friendly games against Zimbabwe, Malawi, Kenya and South Africa in March.

“We have FIFA international dates from March 20 to March 28 and we are looking at playing two games,” he said.

Maliehe added that he wanted to cut down the squad down to19 players.

“Right now the squad is 24 players. We are going to cut it to 19 players by the end of February. Our preparations are going according to stages: stage 1, 2, 3 and 4,” he said.

“Right now we are in stage one which is training at Lehakoe. Stage two will be Lehakoe and going to Setsoto. Stage three and four will be more tactical and it will include friendly matches.”

Wrapping up, Maliehe said his plans and targets have been watered down by the absence of his preferred spine. Last July, Likuena impressively reached the quarterfinals of the COSAFA Castle Cup while Maliehe was still caretaker coach before succumbing to eventual champions South Africa.

Lesotho racked up impressive wins over Mauritius (3-0), Angola (2-0) and Malawi (1-0) before losing in a shootout to South Africa after a 1-1 draw.

“To me what I wanted to do is changed by the nature of the players at my disposal,” Maliehe said. “If you look at the players that are not available, these are players that have been in the national set-up for several years and are fully matured on the international stage.”

Tšepo Seturumane (left), Tumelo Khutlang (second left) and
Basia Makepe (right) are some of the stars no longer available for Likuena

“It’s not nice to always be building but we have to start again,” Maliehe said. “I’m very disappointed in those players that have chosen to retire because we are forced to go back to square one when we had a team that was growing and showing it can compete on the international stage.”

The CHAN qualifiers are divided into six regions – Northern Zone, Zone West A, Zone West B, Central Zone, Central-East Zone and Southern Zone – to determine the 15 countries that will join hosts Kenya.

In the southern zone, three teams will qualify for the CHAN finals.

“If we had the full squad that played at the COSAFA Cup we would be amongst those three teams,” Maliehe said.

Lesotho’s results under Maliehe in 2016:

Played	W	D	L	Goals scored	Goals conceded
10	4	1	5	13	17

26/03/16	2017 AFCON qualifier	Seychelles	2-0	Lesotho
29/03/16	2017 AFCON qualifier	Lesotho	2-1	Seychelles
21/05/16	Friendly	Botswana	2-1	Lesotho
05/06/16	2017 AFCON qualifier	Lesotho	1-2	Ethiopia
12/06/16	COSAFA Cup	Lesotho	3-0	Mauritius
14/06/16	COSAFA Cup	Angola	0-2	Lesotho
16/06/16	COSAFA Cup	Malawi	0-1	Lesotho
18/06/16	COSAFA Cup	South Africa	1-1 (lost on pens)	Lesotho
21/06/16	COSAFA Cup	Lesotho	2-3	Zambia
04/09/16	2017 AFCON qualifier	Algeria	6-0	Lesotho

Likuena coaches since 2000:

Lefa Ramakau (2000-2002)

Monaheng Monyane (2003-04)

Antoine Hey (Germany) (2004-06)

Motheo Mohapi (2006-07)

Zaviša Milosavljević (Serbia) (2007-09)

Leslie Notši (2009, caretaker)

Leslie Notši (2011-13)

Seephephe Matete (2014-2015, caretaker)

Moses Maliehe (2015-2016, caretaker)

Moses Maliehe (2016 –)

Likuena Squad:

Goalkeepers: Daniel Jousse (LCS), Likano Mphuthing (LDF)

Defenders: Tšeliso Ramathe (Matlama), Johannes Molapo (Sundawana), Poloko Mohale (LCS), Mafa Moremoholo (Lioli), Motiki Mohale (LCS), Koete Mohloai (LDF), Jerry Kamela (Lioli)

Midfielders: Tšeliso Ramafikeng (Kick4Life), Thabiso Mohapi (Bantu), Mabuti Potloane (Matlama), Kefuoe Mahula (Matlama), Litšepe Marabe (Bantu), Nketsi Rankhasa (Matlama), Tsebang Lebata (Bantu), Phafa Tšosane (Matlama)

Strikers: Motlalepula Chabeli (Kick4Life), Thabiso Brown (Kick4Life), Sera Motebang (Matlama), Keketso Synders (Sky Battalion), Tšepang Ntsenyane (Sky Battalion), Lehlohonolo Fothoane (Swallows)