After being knocked out of the 2022 COSAFA Women’s Championship from the group stages, Lesotho women’s senior football team arrived home with their heads held high.
Unlike the previous years, the players and the management felt they had taken a step forward. Mehalalitoe, as they are known, showed much improvement.
But they are still lacking greatly in major areas like goalkeeping. This is one aspect of their game that head coach Pule Khojane said Lesotho will be working on.
Mehalalitoe played three games, winning one and losing the other two; while criticism has been justified, it is worth noting that even just finding the back of the net is a big deal.
Composure in front of goals is something they have been struggling with. Perhaps the only negative is that all the three goals they netted came in one game, and one player scored the goals.
Despite the disappointment, these are three players that stood out for Mehalalitoe.
THE THREE PLAYERS…
Boitumelo Rabale
Rabale played four games in seven days. There was a real panic amongst the team when it looked like she wouldn’t be joining the team, but all that disappeared on Thursday morning when she arrived.
As expected, she was head and shoulders above all her teammates and was the catalyst to Mehalalitoe’s victory over Eswatini. Days leading to a tie against Zambia, she struggled and had been under the team doctor’s guidance. Even during the warm when she sat down, there was a genuine concern for the coaches.
However, as the leader, the Mamelodi Sundowns star insisted on playing. Even half fit, she stood out, justifying why the Lesotho Football Association (LEFA) fought so hard to have her released by her club.
Mosele Pita
Speedy and rapid, she left the tongue wagging in Qqeberha with her speed and rapidness. It was her skill from wide that created the third goal for Rabale as she completed her hat trick. She impressed the onlookers at the stadium from the first game against Eswatini as she was constantly running at them.
If it wasn’t for Rabale’s super performance, she could have easily walked away with a player of the match. Against Zambia, the game plan for Lesotho was clear from the get-go, sit back and suck up the pressure and try to hit them on the counter-attack. If that was successful, Pita would play a big part.
Every ball that Mehalalitoe received, they were looking for her, but it seemed the Copper Queens had done their homework on her. They made sure they cut supply to her and forced Lesotho to go through the middle whenever they had the ball, and they neutralised every attack.
Litšeoane Maloro
The TUT forward isn’t the most prolific striker for Mehalalitoe. However, she is a key member of the squad and offers more than goals. Besides goals, what she offers is energy and hard work. She is constantly pressing defenders and making up space for other players to exploit.
As one of the senior players in the team, Maloro was part of the team that was humiliated in 2020 and had been determined to ensure it doesn’t happen again. With the exception of Zambia, Lesotho seems to have made some improvements, and Maloro now needs to start firing again.
By Tlalane Phahla
