Underdog Lesotho pose potential threat to Bafana’s World Cup dreams

BAFANA Bafana beware: the team standing in your way of three points in your quest for a ticket to the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers might be a bunch of unknowns campaigning in a low level league, but they can be pretty dangerous if allowed to settle.

Ordinarily, South Africa’s senior national team should beat Lesotho without as much as raising a sweat.

But international football can be pretty fickle and Likuena – who face off with Bafana in a Group C tie at the Peter Mokaba Stadium on Friday evening (6pm kick-off) – are a potential banana skin in South Africa’s path.

Just ask Morocco. The Atlas Lions had to sweat to beat Lesotho just 1-0, a goal scored deep in stoppage time at the end of the match (93rd minute) when the two countries clashed in an Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in the North African country.

It was Morocco’s home match. And that’s a fact Bafana have to be aware of, that Lesotho seem to perform better when they are playing ‘away’.

In those AFCON qualifiers, they also held Gabon goalless in Libreville.  

That pattern has also been evident in the World Cup qualifiers as they got a point away to Nigeria, whom they actually led before the Super Eagles equalised for a 1-1 draw.

When they played Zimbabwe at neutral Orlando Stadium, but with the Warriors the hosts because they did not have a home ground, Lesotho won 1-0.

So, it is evident that they tend to do well ‘on the road’, and with this being Bafana’s home match, Hugo Broos and his boys better be on their toes and expect some fight from their neighbours.

The silver-haired Bafana technical boss is a wily-old coach who leaves nothing to chance, though, and he indicated the other day that he expects Likuena to be in inspired mode, looking – as they would be – to put one over their more revered neighbours.

He knows that should they allow the match to drag without them scoring, things could get tricky as the Atlas Lions learnt in that first round match.

But score early, and Bafana could well be on the way to a massive win, this much Morocco having proven when they played ‘away’ to Lesotho – albeit also in Morocco – for the second-round match that they won 7-0.

The lure to put one over ‘big brother’ is going to be a motivating factor for a team made up largely of players playing in their country’s domestic league.

And you can bet the majority of them will also be keen to give impressive performances so they could hopefully catch the eye of some of the South African clubs.

For coach Leslie Notsi, this is an opportunity to test himself against a hugely experienced coach whom he respects.

“Playing one of the best teams in our region and in Africa as a whole, having some of the best talented players with one of the shrewd coaches around, it’s going to be a very tough encounter which we believe we have to dig deep to put up a very good competitive game,” Notsi told CAF Online.

It is a southern African derby on a huge stage, and for Notsi and his compatriots, they don’t come bigger.

“I think this is a match that is highly anticipated by the supporters.

“As you know, we are neighbouring countries, so it’s not usual that we play often. People are looking forward to the game, which we believe is going to be a very great encounter,” the former goalkeeper said.