06/09/2025
NOTS'I OPTIMISTIC OF LIKUENA DESPITE DEFEAT
Tlalane Phahla
BLOEMFONTEIN
South Africa completed a dominant double over Lesotho with a 3-0 victory on Friday evening at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein. Goals from Mohau Nkota, Lyle Foster and Oswin Appollis sealed the points and pushed Bafana Bafana closer to qualifying for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Although the match was played in Bloemfontein, South Africa were technically listed as the visitors, as Lesotho’s “home” games in this qualifying campaign are being staged in South Africa. That detail did little to change the outcome, though, as Bafana looked at home from the first whistle.
Likuena started brightly, showing intent and trying to play on the front foot, but they failed to trouble the South African defence. In contrast, Bafana Bafana looked assured, stuck to their game plan and applied pressure at every opportunity. Their persistence paid off in the 15th minute when Nkota broke the deadlock.
Lesotho’s midfield struggled to connect and move the ball forward, while South Africa exploited the flanks effectively. Likuena rightback Thabang Malane had a torrid evening against the lively Appollis, who consistently beat him for pace and skill. Lesotho goalkeeper and captain Sekhoane Moerane was called upon to make a fine save before halftime to keep the scoreline at 1-0.
The second half, however, unravelled for Lesotho. In the 63rd minute, Foster doubled Bafana’s advantage. Malane this time failed to close down South Africa leftback Aubrey Modiba, who had time and space to shoot. Moerane parried his effort, but the rebound fell kindly to Foster for the simplest of tap-ins. Just four minutes later, Appollis added the third goal to put the contest beyond doubt.
After the match, Likuena coach Leslie Notši praised his players’ effort despite the heavy defeat and expressed optimism about their progress.
“I believe we started well as we had planned, we knew exactly what to expect. In the first 20 minutes we had chances, but we conceded on the 15th minute. I think we regrouped and started trying to suffocate their build-ups which they are good at and we conceded the second goal,” Notši said.
“The discipline in terms of structure we gave away, we had a lot of unforced errors in terms of final passes and we conceded goals that I believe we could have done better. But at the same time there are a lot of good attributes that came out of the game in regard to the magnitude of the game. I believe our boys—we are a work in progress.”
Notši admitted that Likuena fell apart in the second half as they tried to take advantage of the situations they created in the first half. He said the second goal shattered his players’ confidence and led to a loss of discipline.
Now bruised and beaten, Likuena will need to bounce back quickly and turn their attention to Benin on Tuesday in their next World Cup qualifier. With this defeat, however, their dream of reaching the global showpiece is hanging by a thread.
Lesotho Line-up:
Moerane, Malane, Matlabe, Makhele, Sefoli, Matsau, Toalane (88’ Phatsisi), Fothoane (67’ Rapuleng), Mokhachane (67’ Lesako), Makateng (40’ Thabantšo), Sera (88’ Maphakisa)
Group C Table
POS TEAM MP W D L GF GA GD PTS
1. South Africa 7 5 1 1 13 5 8 16
2. Benin 7 3 2 2 7 7 0 11
3. Rwanda 6 2 2 2 4 4 O 8
4. Nigeria 6 1 4 1 7 6 1 7
5. Lesotho 7 1 3 3 4 8 -4 6
6. Zimbabwe 7 0 4 3 5 10 -5 4
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