Africa-Press – Lesotho. Lesotho Women Super League (WSL) champions Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) Ladies will know their opponents in the inaugural COSAFA Women’s Champions League today.
The draw of the seven competing teams will be held in Johannesburg, South Africa, at 11am. Today’s draw will also reveal the host city. The tournament will start with a group stage with two pools, one of four teams and another with three.
The best teams will then progress to the final stage. Lesotho’s champions have been hard at work preparing for the tournament to be staged between August 26 and September 4 with the winner qualifying for the first-ever Total CAF Women’s Champions League later in the year.
LDF head coach Lehloenya Nkhasi said it is important his side know their opponents early so that they can prepare themselves accordingly. At the moment the army side have been focusing on improving their own game and Nkhasi said LDF will prepare themselves adequately for any team they are drawn against.
The competition offers a great opportunity and massive exposure. For example, LDF could be drawn against South African champions Mamelodi Sundowns. “It is a dream to play at this level for the players,” Nkhasi said.
“We don’t know what to expect because some of the teams are closed books but teams like Mamelodi Sundowns, (and) Manzini Wanderers are teams that we know and the Double Action Ladies from Botswana.
Some teams we don’t know at all and it’s going to be a challenge, but they also don’t know how LDF plays, so we have to master what we are capable of.
” Nkhasi said there are no favourable draws his side are hoping for because all the teams in the competition are “good in their own way. ” He said LDF have already tried to study their potential opponents.
“Sometimes we look at their leagues to see where they are (in the standings), who their key players are in the national team and where they play,” the LDF mentor said.
“For example, Green Buffaloes from Zambia have about four or five players at the Olympics now and that only tells you they are a good team. If a team has that many players (in the national team) sometimes we look at the national team and we might get an idea about the club,” he added.
Nkhasi confirmed LDF have some injuries to key players but said he is hopeful they will have recovered by the time the competition starts in a month’s time.
The teams seven teams that form the first-ever COSAFA Champions League are LDF (Lesotho), Black Rhino Queens (Zimbabwe), Green Buffaloes (Zambia), Tura Magic (Namibia), Manzini Wanderers (Eswatini), Double Action (Botswana) and Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa).
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