Africa-Press – Lesotho. LCS goal-scoring sensation Hlomelang Lebina wants to ink his name in the history books of football in Lesotho by being one of the youngest players to walk away with the golden boot award.
The accolade was last season won by 23-year-old Katleho Makateng, which helped him secure a move to South African DSTV Premiership side, Richards Bay. The 20-year-old Lebona, who comes from Ha Mantšebo was scouted during the Lesotho Football Association’s school of excellence programme in 2015.
He is in his second season playing topflight football in the country and leads the Vodacom Premier League goal-scoring chats with ten goals from the 14 games played so far.
The marksman became the first player to score four goals this season as LCS demolished premier league new boys Naughty Boys 9-1 in last weekend’s matches. His other goals came against Machokha, which was a brace and netted a goal in each of the games against Lioli, LMPS, Liphakoe, and Swallows.
“My football journey started in the dusty streets of Ha Mantšebo, where we used to play barefooted and I got scouted by coaches that were working for the Lesotho Football Association for the school of excellence programme,” Lebina explains.
“I was picked to go play for Maseru South in the games that were held in Mohale’s Hoek, where our coaches included Halemakale Mahlaha, my club coach Shalane Lehohla and Mohaila Letseka from LeFA.
“I never looked back since then and joined the LCS development team, where I played until I was promoted to the senior team last season.
Lebina, who played for the likes of Lunar Big 15 and Albert Warriors at Ha Mantšebo, says his initial target was to score 15 goals this season, but now wants to score more than 20 goals as he already has ten from the first-round matches.
“First of all, to be playing premier league football is a dream come true for me because I never thought I would be here at my age playing for a big team like LCS and being the top goal scorer in the top league,” the young forward said.
“My target for this season was to score at least 15 goals but now that I already have 10 from the first-round games. I’m challenging myself to score more than 20 goals. “I can only achieve that if I continue to work hard.
“I knew that I stand a better chance of regularly playing this season when the coaches were throwing me in the deep end in the previous season,” he said.
The hitman is confident that he can emulate last season’s premier league top goal scorer-Makateng, who secured a move to South Africa after winning the golden boot with 20 goals in his maiden campaign of topflight football.
“I only knew of Makateng last season when he was hogging the headlines for his good performances in the field of play and from him, I learnt the importance of being humble to be able to achieve your goals,” Lebina said.
“It would be a dream come true to emulate the success he achieved last season and hopefully secure a contract to play football outside the country,” he said.
Lebina revealed that he looks up to his teammate Thabo Seakhoa, who hails from the same area as him and is confident he will play for the national team like him.
“I have played for the Under-17 and Under-20 teams and the next big step is to play for the senior team, which I have no doubt will help me get the exposure to go for greener pastures outside the country,” he said.
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