Sport Public Eye
June 15, 2018
Why Lesotho can only watch W’Cup from far NTHAKO MAJORO
M
ASERU - There is no denying the fact that the pinnacle of football is the World Cup and that’s where every country wishes to
play. Lesotho is, of course, no exception but the Mountain Kingdom struggles to even win the regional Cosafa Cup, not to mention the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). This, in other words, means Lesotho is not even close to qualifying for the World Cup. Former Likuena head coaches Monaheng Doc Monyane and Seepheephe ‘Mochini’ Matete however contend that Lesotho can still make it to the World Cup. Their argument is, while there is plenty of talent in Lesotho, the biggest problem is lack of urgency among Basotho in general. “We are not that far to reach a level where we could be recognised in the world. Look where Saudi Arabia are now,” said Monyane in an interview with Public Eye yesterday. Monyane, who is the only coach to guide Lesotho to the Cosafa Cup final in 2000, says for Lesotho to realise a dream of that magnitude, local football administrators must start taking things seriously. “It is just a matter of knowing how to organise ourselves, and on top of that we need the right people at the planning level and they must be serious. “I think we need to be honest and more uncompromising
in our thinking, unlike now when we seem to be taking things as lightly as possible.” Monyane further says: “It is true we are not honest but we have talent, and nothing can prevent us from reaching the highest stage in football, nothing at all.” He says in the past, Likuena used to perform well in Cosafa tournaments irrespective of the limited time the team has always had to prepare because back then football was serious business. “Like I said in the past, even with limited time to prepare, we would still perform better than we do now under similar circumstances.” Monyane says although they still had such problems, they at least still managed to organise themselves well. “Of course we need to be honest and find out why we are still where we are today before we can work on the way forward. “But now you would find that most of the time we tend to ignore the problem.” Monyane further says: “We need introspection, particularly at administrative level.” The symposia Lesotho football administrators have attended over the years on football matters were a waste of time, according to Monyane. For his part, Matete argues that Basotho’s mentality towards football should first change. “First of all it is our mentality as Basotho in general. We need to take football as our number one
sport,” Matete says. “By saying so I mean government also should prioritise sport.” Matete says when the government prioritises sport, it will ensure that all the essential infrastructure is up to standard. “But when we don’t have infrastructure like now, our chances of qualifying for the World Cup will always remain close to impossible. “Because when you look at the countries that qualify for the World Cup, you will realise that they already have talent and good infrastructure.” Matete again says football is already a popular sport in Lesotho adding to develop good players, no miracles are expected. “Football is already the number one sport in Lesotho and what we need is for the government to introduce physical education at primary schools. “That will help a lot since our children will be the necessary development from an early age. Matete further says: “This is because football starts at primary level and it has no short cuts. As coaches, we can just go and watch them play, and thereafter come up with programmes for the under-8, under-10 and under-12.” Matete says this is an area where successful teams in Europe are at their best, which unfortunately is not the case in Lesotho. He says despite knowing that it is crucial to develop players from that early age, in Lesotho children start only playing football when they are between the ages of 12 and 13. “So there are stages that we skip like from six until we reach 12. And when you skip such stages, there is no turning back. We call such stages ‘the fundamental age’. That’s where you teach a child how to head and to pass the ball, among other things.” Matete says that is where children learn fast, an area where Basotho fail considerably. . He says if they can go through these accordingly, they could win the Cosafa Cup with so much ease and make it to the AFCON and finally the World Cup.