The Lesotho Senior Men’s National Team, Likuena, have set up base in South Africa ahead of their two international friendly matches against Kenya.

Both games will be played at Lucas Moripe Stadium on Thursday and Sunday respectively. The Bob Mafoso-coached side left Maseru on Tuesday morning with a 27-man squad dominated by new faces.

The two countries are using the matches to prepare for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations PAMOJA Qualifiers, which kick off in September.

Speaking on the squad changes, Mafoso said the initial selection was for COSAFA, with the objective of widening the player pool.

“Initially it was a squad for COSAFA as the objective was to widen our pool,” Mafoso said.

“We felt it was a stage to test our young players, as it has been the norm for countries to give young players international exposure. But we had to beef up with experienced campaigners for the games against Kenya.”

Mafoso believes Kenya share the same ambition as Lesotho — using the friendlies to gauge readiness for AFCON Qualifiers.

“I think these games will give us a picture of where we are and what we need to do going into the qualifiers in September. We will be able to correct our mistakes and test different combinations,” he said.

The Likuena coach also said he is looking forward to coming up against highly rated Kenya coach Benni McCarthy.

“He is a top coach, with a lot of experience and exposure both as a player and a coach. He played and coached at the highest level.

He should be in a position to ask us questions — let’s see if we can come up with the solutions. This is one of the reasons we are happy to play these games,” Mafoso stated.