{"id":35594,"date":"2023-11-05T09:56:51","date_gmt":"2023-11-05T09:56:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mehalalitoe-seek-to-build-on-progress"},"modified":"2023-11-05T10:24:13","modified_gmt":"2023-11-05T10:24:13","slug":"mehalalitoe-seek-to-build-on-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mehalalitoe-seek-to-build-on-progress","title":{"rendered":"Mehalalitoe seek to build on progress"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>Lesotho\u2019s national women\u2019s team starts its COSAFA Women\u2019s Cup tomorrow looking to build on recent positive steps for local women\u2019s football. The regional championship kicked off with a shock yesterday as hosts South Africa were beaten 4-3 by Malawi in Tshwane.<\/p>\n

Apart from being hosts, South Africa also happens to be the record champions of the COSAFA Women\u2019s Cup with seven titles from the previous 10 tournaments.<\/p>\n

However, South Africa haven\u2019t won either of the previous two tournaments albeit with second-string teams. B-teams or not, the successes of Tanzania in 2021 and Zambia last year show how competitive women\u2019s football is becoming in the region.<\/p>\n

The renewed commitment to the COSAFA Women\u2019s Cup has helped greatly with the tournament having been held every year since 2017 after a six-year absence from 2011 because of a lack of sponsorship.<\/p>\n

The advent in 2021 of the COSAFA Women\u2019s Champions League featuring the champions from the region\u2019s national leagues has raised the bar even further and the fruits of the two initiatives are most vividly seen in the meteoric rise of Zambian women\u2019s football.<\/p>\n

Zambia\u2019s Green Buffaloes shocked everyone last year by winning the COSAFA Women\u2019s Champions League and, a short while later, the national side followed suit by capturing the COSAFA Women\u2019s Cup.<\/p>\n

Both times South Africa was on the receiving end, first with Mamelodi Sundowns and then the national side, Banyana Banyana. Zambia parlayed those successes into a maiden spot at the 2023 FIFA World Cup earlier this year in Australia and New Zealand, and they were not done.<\/p>\n

\u2018Shepolopolo\u2019 capped their remarkable story by beating Costa Rica 3-1 in July to secure the country\u2019s first-ever win at a FIFA World Cup, in men\u2019s or women\u2019s football.<\/p>\n

Lesotho hopes to be the next hopeful to show evidence of improvement, starting with tomorrow\u2019s Group C opener against Zimbabwe, and then against Botswana and Namibia.<\/p>\n

Mehalalitoe will be the underdogs against Zimbabwe who were the first nation to disturb South Africa\u2019s dominance when they won the COSAFA Women\u2019s Cup in 2011, but a point for Lesotho would put Pule Khojane\u2019s side in a good position to progress from a balanced group.<\/p>\n

This is Lesotho\u2019s best side to date. Mehalalitoe now take a squad to Tshwane that boasts three players in South Africa\u2019s elite Hollywoodbets Super League in captain Boitumelo Rabale who plays for Mamelodi Sundowns as well as Mosili Mots\u030coeneng and Lits\u030ceoane Maloro who play for Royal AM.<\/p>\n

That evolution of the senior side can be traced to the growth of the Women\u2019s Super League which has helped Lesotho become more competitive. Last month, Lesotho Defence Force (LDF) showed progress at the COSAFA Women\u2019s Champions League COSAFA in Durban where they finished third in their four-team group, an improvement on their debut performance in 2021 when they finished bottom of their pool.<\/p>\n

Mehalalitoe are looking to build on that promise and, by and large, Lesotho has improved from the days of 8-0 and 9-0 losses to Zambia and Malawi in 2020.<\/p>\n

Yes, there are several challenges that hinder Mehalalitoe\u2019s progress and competitiveness on the international stage, and they have to be addressed because, despite their best efforts, the team is being held back by a lack of support. The main challenge, of course, is the lack of financial support and investment in women\u2019s football in the country.<\/p>\n

Without adequate financial resources, Mehalalitoe struggle to organise regular training sessions and travel for international games, and this places them at a significant disadvantage compared to countries with well-funded women\u2019s football programmes.<\/p>\n

Another difficulty is the limited infrastructure and facilities available for training and development. Women\u2019s teams don\u2019t have proper training grounds and other essential facilities that are necessary for players\u2019 growth and improvement.<\/p>\n

This hampers their ability to meet international standards and impedes their progress in mastering crucial skills and tactics vital for success at higher levels. Societal attitudes towards women\u2019s football remain a significant challenge as well.<\/p>\n

Gender inequality is still prevalent and women\u2019s football is often considered less important compared to the men\u2019s game which leads to a lack of recognition, media coverage, and public interest in women\u2019s football.<\/p>\n

Consequently, many talented women football players struggle to gain support and acknowledgment, making it more challenging to develop a competitive national team. That is why this COSAFA Women\u2019s Cup campaign feels so important, because it can potentially open eyes, and put eyes on Mehalalitoe.<\/p>\n

There is a gap for Lesotho to do well and, finally, Lesotho has players such as Rabale who are considered as some of the region\u2019s best, something that the men\u2019s game cannot boast. Khojane has also built a promising young core that is sprinkled with the experience of the likes of Maloro.<\/p>\n

And there were good signs at last year\u2019s tournament when Lesotho beat Eswatini 3-0 in their first game and were competitive in their next two games despite losing to Zambia (7-0) and Namibia (2-0).<\/p>\n

This year might be Mehalalitoe\u2019s best shot at making it out of the group stage which would be Lesotho\u2019s best achievement since its first women\u2019s international in 1998 (a 3-0 loss away in Mozambique). Most importantly, it would provide added impetus to address the challenges facing the women\u2019s game in the country.<\/p>\n

Success at the COSAFA Women\u2019s Cup would mean no more excuses and it would bring the realisation that the Lesotho government and football authorities have to invest more in women\u2019s football, because the players are doing all that they can.<\/p>\n

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

Africa-Press – Lesotho. Lesotho\u2019s national women\u2019s team starts its COSAFA Women\u2019s Cup tomorrow looking to build on recent positive steps for local women\u2019s football. The regional championship kicked off with a shock yesterday as hosts South Africa were beaten 4-3 by Malawi in Tshwane. Apart from being hosts, South Africa also happens to be the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":35593,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[233,246,331,245],"class_list":["post-35594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-cosafa","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nMehalalitoe seek to build on progress - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Lesotho\u2019s national women\u2019s team starts its COSAFA Women\u2019s Cup tomorrow looking to build on recent positive steps for loc ...\" \/>\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\/mehalalitoe-seek-to-build-on-progress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mehalalitoe seek to build on progress\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Lesotho\u2019s national women\u2019s team starts its COSAFA Women\u2019s Cup tomorrow looking to build on recent positive steps for loc ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mehalalitoe-seek-to-build-on-progress\" \/>\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=\"2023-11-05T09:56:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-05T10:24:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/11\/sm_1699167182.618369.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1494\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"996\" \/>\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\/mehalalitoe-seek-to-build-on-progress#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mehalalitoe-seek-to-build-on-progress\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mehalalitoe seek to build on progress\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-05T09:56:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-05T10:24:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mehalalitoe-seek-to-build-on-progress\"},\"wordCount\":962,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mehalalitoe-seek-to-build-on-progress#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2023\/11\/sm_1699167182.618369.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"COSAFA\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mehalalitoe-seek-to-build-on-progress#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mehalalitoe-seek-to-build-on-progress\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mehalalitoe-seek-to-build-on-progress\",\"name\":\"Mehalalitoe seek to build on progress - 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