Bantu coach James Madidilane: “The Champions League was an experience one cannot buy”

"Next time we will know what to do." 

On Wednesday, Bantu crashed out of the CAF Champions League at the first hurdle after a heart-breaking away goals loss to Swaziland’s Mbabane Swallows. A Matšo Matebele arrived back in Lesotho on Thursday evening. But there is no time to rest. Bantu now have to dust themselves off and refocus on pressing tasks at home.

A Matšo Matebele currently lead the Econet Premier League by seven points with nine games left as they look to defend their title, return to the Champions League and try their luck in Africa again in 2019.

Before that the Mafeteng giants begin their 2018 LNIG Top 8 campaign with a quarterfinal first leg tie against Sky Battalion on Sunday afternoon at the LCS Stadium. Shortly after Bantu’s return home, head coach James Madidilane reflected on the eventful tie against Mbabane Swallows, the lessons learned and tests ahead for the champions.

Q: What are your thoughts on the second leg against Mbabane Swallows?

Madidilane: I am proud about how we did. In the first leg we were a bit shaky but in the second leg I was pleased with the manner in which we played. It showed character and it proved that we can do wonders as long as the players are not scared. I am happy with the technical team and the players as well. 

Bantu coach James Madidilane (right)... 

How disappointed are you to lose the tie on away goals?

It’s an experience one cannot buy. We made critical errors in the first leg because players were not themselves. Next time (we are in the competition) I know what to do and the players have learned. We could have scored more goals in the second leg but what we can take into account is that this match was an eye opener and we learned a lot from the two games.

Do you have any regrets over the first leg?

Football is a game and for you to win you have to know that there will be mistakes. Mistakes happen and you have to learn from them. It was not good that we lost. As a coach – and as it was my first time in CAF (competition) – what I realised is that when you go into such games you have to believe in yourself. We conceded in the first leg because we were scared. Some of the players were scared because we were playing against a team which had played and beaten a South African team (Platinum Stars) last year (in the CAF Confederation Cup).

What lessons did you take as a coach and as a team from the tie?

I can play against (Jose) Mourinho but the important thing as a coach is to believe in your team and yourself as well. I realised that, with players that we have, we can do wonders.

Do you believe you can bounce back and go on to win the Econet Premier League or do you fear that the disappointment from losing to Mbabane Swallows will negatively affect the players?

There is no disappointment in the team at all. The challenge is that there was too much on stake from us, not considering that it was our first time in the Champions League as a group and, basically for me, it was my first time in CAF. But the loss will not hinder us in the league. We still have so many games to tackle. We have to defend the (league) title as well. We are leading and that doesn’t say we can relax. Lioli and Matlama are on a high and with Lioli having a new coach (Morena Ramorebodi) I think there is still going to be a serious challenge from them. We have to work hard. I wouldn’t say we were demoralised but instead the CAF games boosted us.

Bantu so close but so far in CAF Champions League

Bantu came close but got no cigar against Mbabane Swallows

2018 CAF Champions League

Preliminary Round, Second leg

Somhlolo Stadium

Wednesday, 21 February

Mbabane Swallows………..1

Bantu………………………3

5-5 on aggregate (Mbabane Swallows win on away goals)

Bantu’s CAF Champions League adventure is over and although it was a valiant effort by A Matšo Matebele to beat Mbabane Swallows in their own backyard, it was another case of close but no cigar for Lesotho in Africa’s premier club competition.

Bantu went into Wednesday’s second leg at the Somhlolo Stadium in Swaziland needing to win by three goals to advance after losing the first leg 4-2 in Maseru two weeks earlier.

In the end the Lesotho champions managed to defeat Mbabane Swallows 3-1, but it wasn’t enough.

The result made the aggregate score 5-5 but Mbabane Swallows won on the away goals rule.

It is a most painful way to be knocked for Bantu who in the second leg showed their potential to do well on the African stage. A Matšo Matebele’s win in Swaziland was the first time a Lesotho side has won an away Champions League tie since 1998 when, ironically, LDF beat Mbabane Swallows 4-1.

The only other times a Lesotho team managed an away win were in 1992 when Arsenal beat Namibia’s Eleven Arrows 1-0, in 1990 when Arsenal beat Denver Sundowns of Swaziland 3-0 and in 1987 when Matlama beat Botswana’s Gaborone United 2-0.

Despite insisting beforehand that Bantu would not play with two strikers because of his side’s defensive frailties, coach James Madidilane put out an extremely adventurous line-up that featured five attack-minded players with Tsietsi Motšeare, Litšepe Marabe, Tsebang Lebata, Ramasimong Maloisane and Hlompho Kalake all starting at Somhlolo.

Madidilane was rewarded for his daring when Lebata gave A Matšo Matebele the lead in the fifth minute to raise hopes of a memorable afternoon for the Lesotho champions.

However, Bantu’s defence has been a weak-link in recent weeks and just a minute later Felix Badenhorst had scored to make it 1-1. From there Bantu had to score three more goals without reply to advance.

With the scores tied 1-1 at halftime, A Matšo Matebele came out guns blazing in the second period while Mbabane Swallows appeared more content to hold what they had. It almost cost the home side.

Bantu scored twice through Marabe and Kalake to put the miracle back on track. But, despite huffing and puffing with all their might, the Mafeteng visitors couldn’t blow Mbabane’s house down. In the end, Bantu came out with an historic moral victory. Even so, had their defence been better in the home leg, it could have been so much more.

Bantu's defeat continues Lesotho poor record in Africa...

For Lesotho its dismal record in Africa’s top competition continues. No Lesotho club has advanced to the first round of the tournament since LDF in 2002.

In fact, only seven times in 29 ties since 1986 has a local side progressed past the preliminary stage and only once ever has a Lesotho team made it to the second round – that was in 1992 when Arsenal beat Swaziland’s Denver Sundowns (4-0 on aggregate) and Mozambique’s Ferroviario de Maputo (2-1) before falling to Nkana Red Devils of Zambia (8-1).

Many had hoped that 2018, with a confident Bantu, would be the year when things changed.

Bantu starting XI v Mbabane Swallows: Thabo Selisa - Johannes Molapo, Itumeleng Falene, Tsietsi Khooa, Thapelo Mokhehle © - Lindokuhle Phungulwa, Ramasimong Maloisane, Hlompho Kalake - Tsietsi Motšeare, Litšepe Marabe, Tsebang Lebata

Lesotho in the CAF Champions League since 1986:

2018    Mbabane Swallows (Swaziland) 5-5 Bantu    

2017    CAPS United (Zimbabwe) 2-1 Lioli    

2016    Vital’O (Burundi) 2-2 Lioli (Vital’O won on away goals)

2015    AS Mangasport (Gabon) 1-0 Bantu    

2014    Primeiro de Agosto (Angola) 3-2 Lioli

2013    Dynamos (Zimbabwe) 3-1 LCS

2012    URA (Uganda) 3-0 LCS

2011    SuperSport United (RSA) 3-2 Matlama          

2010    Did not take part       

2009    Did not take part       

2008    Platinum Stars (RSA) 4-1 LCS

2007    Zanaco (Zambia) 1-0 Likhopo

2006    Sundowns (RSA) 4-0 Likhopo           

2005    CAPS United (Zimbabwe) 8-4 LDF    

2004    Orlando Pirates (RSA) 7-0 Matlama  

2003    Did not take part

2002    Mogoditshane Fighters (Botswana) 1-2 LDF  

2001    Did not take part

2000    AS Fortior (Madagascar) 0-0 LDF (LDF won on penalties)    

Mamelodi Sundowns (RSA) 6-2 LDF

1999    Notwane (Botswana) 2-4 LDF

Dynamos (Zimbabwe) 4-0 LDF

1998    Mbabane Swallows (Swaziland) 1-6 LDF       

Manning Rangers (RSA) 5-4 LDF

1997    Limbe Leaf Wanderers (Malawi) 2-5 Rovers 

Orlando Pirates (RSA) 1-0 Rovers

1996    CS Saint-Denis (Reunion) 10-1 Majantja

1995    JS Saint-Pierroise (Reunion) 6-2 LDF 

1994    Sundowns (RSA) 5-1 Arsenal

1993    Sunrise Flacq United (Mauritius) 4-3 Matlama

1992    Eleven Arrows (Namibia) 0-4 Arsenal           

Kampala City Council (Uganda) 2-2 Arsenal  (KCC won on penalties)

1991    Pamba SC (Tanzania) 3-0 LDF           

1990    Denver Sundowns (Swaziland) 0-4 Arsenal   

Ferroviario de Maputo (Mozambique) 1-2 Arsenal    

Nkana Red Devils (Zambia) 8-1 Arsenal

1989    Botswana Defence Force XI 5-2 Matlama     

1988    Sunrise Flacq United (Mauritius) 3-2 LDF

1987    Gaborone United (Botswana) 0-3 Matlama   

Nakivubo Villa SC (Uganda) 5-0 Matlama    

1986    Maji Maji (Tanzania) 7-2 Lioli

Maseru Select to compete in Free State Rugby League

Maseru Select will return to the Griffons Rugby Eastern Free State League in March 

The Maseru Select rugby team will once again take part in the Griffons Rugby Eastern Free State League in 2018.

The 10-team championship which is contested by clubs in South Africa’s Free State province will start on March 17 and run until June.

The invitation from the league is a welcome boost for Lesotho rugby.

Maseru Select is a selection squad made up of the best players from clubs in the country’s top-flight, the Lesotho Rugby Championship.

The teams are Maseru Warriors, Mabote Beavers, National University of Lesotho Spears, LDF Liqhomane and Giants Rugby.

Maseru Select competed in the Griffons league last year after skipping the 2016 edition and the outing is good news for Lesotho with the national team preparing for the Africa Cup Bronze Cup in May where Likatola will battle Mauritius, Rwanda and hosts Ghana.

Federation of Lesotho Rugby (FLR) secretary general Litšitso Motšeremeli said competing in the Griffons Rugby Eastern Free State League against experienced South African opposition has played a major role in improving Lesotho players’ and providing them exposure to international competition.

Lesotho first participated in the league in 2013 and during that time Likatola have risen from affiliate status to Rugby Africa’s lowest tier – the Division 2 Cup – and now to the Bronze Cup. In total, Lesotho has won six of its nine test matches since its international debut in 2012.

“Since the FLR was formed (in 2011), this league is one of the platforms we have used to groom our players, even the current Likatola players gained their competence through the league. Therefore we are happy that we are back again,” Motšeremeli said.

Maseru Select will play their Griffons League home games in Ladybrand and Motšeremeli said this year the FLR will be looking to put together a younger squad in order to start grooming the next group of stars for Likatola.

Maseru Select have also received an invitation to the annual Welkom Easter Rugby tournament to be played over the Easter holidays.

The competition is hosted by the Bronville Pioneer Club in Free State and last year Maseru Select finished second losing to the home side, Bronville Pioneer, in the final.

The upcoming duo of tournaments will help Lesotho’s preparations for the Rugby Africa Bronze Cup scheduled for May 9 to 12. Likatola assistant coach Morapeli Motaung said the high-level of competition coming up is a timely boost.

“The league consists of highly competitive clubs from South Africa and I believe they are of the right standard to give our players a good challenge,” Motaung said.

“We have nothing to lose against Mbabane Swallows” - Bantu coach Madidilane

A mountain to climb for Bantu... but it's possible, says Madidilane

Bantu coach James Madidilane says A Matšo Matebele have nothing to lose in Wednesday’s CAF Champions League decider against Mbabane Swallows but he said playing with two strikers would be “suicidal”.

Bantu head into the away tie at the Swaziland champions trailing 4-2 from the first leg at Setsoto two Sundays ago.

The return game will kick off at 4pm at Swaziland’s national Somhlolo Stadium.

Madidilane’s side need a minimum of three goals to have any chance of progressing to the next round of the competition. Because of the away goals rule, the only way for Bantu to advance is to win by a three-goal margin (3-0, 4-1) or secure a high-scoring two-goal result (5-3, 6-4).

However, even with Bantu’s need for goals, Madidilane said it would be foolish for A Matšo Matebele to go gung-ho in attack and leave themselves exposed in defence. He said the Mafeteng giants need to improve defensively to stand a chance in Swaziland.

“I don’t see my team playing with two strikers (in the second leg),” Madidilane said. “With the type of players that we have I don’t think we would allow that because as much as we need to score goals we also mustn’t concede.”

“You can see we are still struggling in terms of our defending and it will be suicidal for us to play with two strikers. The match we are going to play on Wednesday is an international game; (Mbabane Swallows) caught us with transitions in the first leg, I imagine they will have many numbers at the back (in the second leg) and try to catch us again on counters. We have to be smart.”

Madidilane added: “We will have to improve; as much as we need goals we also need to defend. The manner and the way that we are going to approach the game is going to be different (from the first leg) but not by playing with two strikers.”

Offence certainly hasn’t been a problem for Bantu in recent weeks. A Matšo Matebele have scored 15 goals in their last six games in all competitions. They have a versatile attack with Lazola Tjokotjokwana, Litšepe Marabe, Lindokuhle Phungulwa and Tsietsi Motšeare all having scored four or more goals this season and Hlompho Kalake a constant threat from midfield.

In the first leg against Mbabane Swallows, Bantu created enough goalscoring chances to win and looked enterprising as usual going forward.

However, the problems for A Matšo Matebele recently have been at the back.

Bantu have only kept two clean-sheets in their past nine games and their latest show of defensive uncertainty came in last Saturday’s 4-2 Econet Premier League win over Linare where their leaky defence almost cost a 3-0 lead.

“The goals that we conceded (against Linare) were cheap goals,” Madidilane said. “We left the opposition players free in our box and we also ball watched. It’s a matter that we have to deal with so that on Wednesday we are not scored against. We have told the players that we have challenge better and we have to prepare ourselves.”

In the first leg, goals from Felix Badenhorst, Wonder Nhleko and a brace by Tony Tsabebze deflated Bantu’s hopes despite home strikes via Motšeare and Kalake.

A Matšo Matebele had gone into the tie with hopes of becoming the first Lesotho club since 2002 to reach the first round of Africa’s premier club competition when LDF beat Botswana’s Mogoditshane Fighters 1-0 on aggregate.

Bantu now face an almost impossible task to achieve that goal but Madidilane refused to give up. He said he hopes a better team balance will give Bantu a better result in the return leg.

“We want to attack with numbers as a team but at least if we have four players at the back it will give us a defensive balance. That will be better for us because we have nothing to lose, we have to go there and win,” Madidilane said.

“The game (against Linare) was better compared to the Mbabane game (in the first leg) but we still have to be quicker in our play because we have to make sure we equalise. We have to come out with intensity as quick as possible.”

LBA to re-introduce developmental league for under-21 players

An under-21 national league is in the pipeline...

Newly-elected Lesotho Basketball Association (LBA) director of development Faku Masupha says the LBA will re-introduce a developmental league for under-21 players this year.

Although Masupha didn’t give an exact date, the changes will probably come into effect when the 2018/19 campaign starts in August because the current season is already well underway.

The development league has not been played since 2015.

Masupha, who founded the successful Bokamoso Basketball Development Program in 2012, said the competition’s absence has affected the standard of the LBA’s top league, the National Basketball League (NBL) A-League. He said discussions are underway to introduce rules that will require all NBL clubs to have development league teams.

The grand vision, he added, includes a national league system beginning at primary schools.

“A developmental pipeline has different stages of which a player has to pass through before reaching the elite level,” Masupha explained.

“If things are go well we have to start from the cadet league targeting primary schools pupils and children at the community level, followed by a (high) school league, developmental league, promotional league and then the elite league.”

He continued: “At the moment we only have the high school league and the elite national league. We need to improve our players’ transition from grassroots level to professional level.”

Masupha said the developmental league will help to prepare young players for the pressures of the NBL A-League. 

“The absence of a developmental league kills a lot of local talent because some players jump straight to the senior league once they leave high school league, so what happens is they arrive in the league immature and are unable stand the pressure against old, experienced players. Because of that they end up losing interest in the sport,” he said.

Masupha said Lesotho needs to take youth development more seriously and that includes companies having a more impactful involvement in supporting development programmes.

“Development is the anchor position of the LBA, it is the anchor to any sporting code but requires proper planning that is properly monitored,” he said.

“For example, I planned to have Bokamoso Basketball Development programme back in 2011, I groomed most of the kids from the ages of 13 and 14 but we are only seeing results now,” Masupha added.