The victorious Lesotho under-17 national side Bahlabani arrived on Monday 15 July, 2002 morning from Namibia, where they walloped their hosts 3-0.

The two teams engaged each other in the African Youth Championships second leg qualifying round played in Windhoek on Saturday, following a barren draw played in Maseru two weeks ago. In an interview, the Bahlabani head coach, Mr. Leslie Nots’i was full of praise for his players, saying they showed character and composure by beating their opponents in front of their supporters.

“The boys played very well and stuck to the game plan of containing the hosts players in the first few minutes, and going forward with counter attacks,” he remarked. Mr. Nots’i noted that his charges did not play well here at home because of being put under pressure by local supporters who shout at them when they commit mistakes and end up not concentrating at the game and by so doing make unnecessary mistakes.

“Local supporters need to cheer our teams to victory when playing at home rather than boo at them which makes the players uncomfortable as if they are playing away,” he commented. Speaking about the game, the coach said after seeing their opponents’ style of play in the first meeting, they approached this match well aware of how to beat their defensive game.

He pointed out that after absorbing pressure, they managed to get the first goal in the 21 minutes after though the boot of left back winger Ralekoti Mokhahlane who beat an offside trap before scoring the first goal. Nots’i pointed out that Bahlabani now took control of the proceedings while their opponents resorted to a rough play, adding that one of the key players Nkopane Ntoi was send out after retaliating following a robust play by one of the opponents.

The coach said the Botswana referees made several questionable decisions throughout the game but stated that they went on to win the game by 3-0 after Boraro Matsoso increased the score to 2-0 in the second stanza. He said Lintho Kori sealed victory for the local side with his first touch of the ball from a spot kick after Matsoso was tackled from behind in the box

Mr. Nots’i thanked the parents who released the players and appealed to them to support their children by attending their local games. He stated that they would meet with the management to discuss possible international friendly games they would play in the run up to the next encounter against South Africa in December.

The coach was quick to state that they have a score to settle with South Africa after beating them 4-0 in the Four-nation tournament in Petersburg. Meanwhile, one of the players who was described as having been influential throughout the match, Mokhahlane (16) who plays for Likhopo and doing Form B at Life High School said they had  a team talk and agreed to win this game for the country.

He said they were communicating in the field, trying to help each other, which they did not do in the first match.Mokhahlane noted that the coach had also told them to win this game for Basotho, adding that their intention was to go all the way to face South Africa.               

The Team Management Mr. Thabo Pule promised to give the players two tickets each so that they can bring along their parents or any member of their families to watch them in their next match.

15 July,2002