{"id":17697,"date":"2022-07-20T08:51:00","date_gmt":"2022-07-20T08:51:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/likuenas-journey-ends-in-shame"},"modified":"2022-07-20T09:40:25","modified_gmt":"2022-07-20T09:40:25","slug":"likuenas-journey-ends-in-shame","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/likuenas-journey-ends-in-shame","title":{"rendered":"Likuena\u2019s journey ends in shame"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Likuena\u2019s shambolic 2021 COSAFA Cup participation is over and, as usual, the nation is left with more questions than answers about the national team. The final nail in Lesotho\u2019s COSAFA Cup coffin came on Tuesday in the form of a 4-0 drubbing by hosts South Africa at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth.
\nOnce again Likuena supporters were subjected to a below par and lethargic performance throughout the entire 90 minutes as South Africa comfortably picked up their third successive win and a place in the tournament\u2019s semi-finals.<\/p>\n

Our players showed no fight or heart whatsoever and afterwards Lesotho interim coach Leslie Not\u0161i admitted his players didn\u2019t come to the party. I would argue they never came to the party throughout the entire group stage except for against Zambia last Thursday, when Likuena claimed a 2-1 win.<\/p>\n

However, that sweet victory over the defending COSAFA Cup champions was overshadowed by a series of bad performances in Likuena\u2019s other three Group A games in which they conceded a total of 12 goals and scored three times.<\/p>\n

Losing is one thing, but going down without a fight is something else altogether and it is clear these players have no pride for the national team and the badge they wear.<\/p>\n

The Likuena jerseys are the country\u2019s colours and the players don\u2019t play like it. What hurts the most is that we passionately follow this team but they rarely show up.<\/p>\n

Lesotho\u2019s COSAFA Cup squad included some experienced players that have played in multiple editions of the regional showpiece but they didn\u2019t show up, instead, it was the newcomers that impressed.<\/p>\n

The reason for calling up experienced players is because a team needs a good mix of youth and experience, as Italy showed at the recent European Championships. However, what do we do when Likuena\u2019s experienced players are the worst performers? The COSAFA Cup is a big deal for us.<\/p>\n

For so long we have complained about using the same players for the World Cup, Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers and the COSAFA Cup, and that they never perform any differently.<\/p>\n

This year the team was tweaked a little bit, not because we were going to test our young players, but because of that infamous Mozambique tour last month from which we know all the culprits.<\/p>\n

Those troublemakers were excluded from the COSAFA Cup team because they had to be. But, if it were not because of that, I reckon we would still have the same squad. Likuena has not reached the finals of the COSAFA Cup since 2000.<\/p>\n

In April the Lesotho Football Association\u2019s (LEFA) president, Advocate Salemane Phafane, issued a stern warning to former Lesotho head coach Thabo Senong that the team had to reach this year\u2019s COSAFA Cup semi-finals, or face consequences.<\/p>\n

Well, Senong isn\u2019t here anymore and Likuena never looked like getting into the semi-finals, so what now, president? Not\u0161i isn\u2019t the coach, he was roped in as an emergency.
\nHe will likely go back to his daily job as the Technical Director of LEFA where he will be part of the search for new national coach. At this point it remains a mystery as to who will be given the job.<\/p>\n

Likuena\u2019s first game against Eswatini last Tuesday was gut-wrenching because Lesotho was the better team despite receiving an early red card for Jane Thabant\u0161o.<\/p>\n

The team performed better and deservedly got an equaliser through Tumelo Khutlang\u2019s free kick but with 10 players on the pitch Eswatini eventually took advantage of their numerical superiority and won the game 3-1.<\/p>\n

Then came Zambia and Likuena recorded a stunning victory and suddenly we were hoping again, but with this team it is hope that kills. Against Botswana and South Africa where we conceded eight goals, reality hit home once again \u2013 we are just not good enough as a country.
\nWhenever Likuena performs badly, we never address the real issues which stem on poor development of players. It has always been easy to blame the coaches, just as we did with Senong.
\nI am not saying coaches are blameless, but we had one of the best development coaches in South Africa as Likuena coach and he is gone just like that. You have to wonder if there is anything we learnt or if there is anything we took from him to build on going forward.<\/p>\n

I doubt it. As a country we have big expectations for the national team but don\u2019t want to put in the work, we are cutting corners to success. We have Under-17 and Under-20 national teams, but how do we bridge the gap between the youth teams and the senior team? What is the plan?<\/p>\n

Not\u0161i said South Africa wanted it more than us, that the players did not engage themselves defensively or offensively and communication was lacking. We gave South Africa too much respect, he said.
\nNot\u0161i also said there is a lot we can take from the tournament, which foremost is the exposure of young players. \u201cWe had discussions during the break (against South Africa) and in the second half and the players performed much better but, of course, we conceded the fourth goal.
\nEven in the first half, the goals we conceded came in critical phases,\u201d Not\u0161i said. \u201cI think there is a lot that we can take from this tournament. For our youngsters that we brought in, the exposure of today\u2019s game I think is good.\u201d<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Likuena\u2019s shambolic 2021 COSAFA Cup participation is over and, as usual, the nation is left with more questions than answers about the national team. The final nail in Lesotho\u2019s COSAFA Cup coffin came on Tuesday in the form of a 4-0 drubbing by hosts South Africa at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":17696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,17,16],"tags":[233,246,331,245],"class_list":["post-17697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-sport","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-cosafa","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nLikuena\u2019s journey ends in shame - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Likuena\u2019s shambolic 2021 COSAFA Cup participation is over and, as usual, the nation is left with more questions than ans ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/likuenas-journey-ends-in-shame\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Likuena\u2019s journey ends in shame\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Likuena\u2019s shambolic 2021 COSAFA Cup participation is over and, as usual, the nation is left with more questions than ans ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/likuenas-journey-ends-in-shame\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-20T08:51:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-20T09:40:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_19-62d7cd719e08d.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"409\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"277\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/likuenas-journey-ends-in-shame#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/likuenas-journey-ends-in-shame\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Likuena\u2019s journey ends in shame\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-20T08:51:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-20T09:40:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/likuenas-journey-ends-in-shame\"},\"wordCount\":946,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/likuenas-journey-ends-in-shame#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2022\/07\/postQueueImg_19-62d7cd719e08d.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"COSAFA\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/likuenas-journey-ends-in-shame#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/likuenas-journey-ends-in-shame\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/likuenas-journey-ends-in-shame\",\"name\":\"Likuena\u2019s journey ends in shame - 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