Phat\u1e67oane along with South Africa\u2019s duo of Victor Gomes and Zakhele Siwela re-wrote the history books of football in the region becoming first referees from Southern Africa to officiate the final of the Africa Cup of nations.<\/p>\n
Senegal\u2019s Teranga Lions lifted their first Africa Cup of Nations trophy after defeating Egypt 2-1 on penalties after the final ended goalless following extra time.<\/p>\n
Social media platforms erupted with images and messages of support, celebrating Phat\u1e67oane performance and achievements, where he officiated five matches including the final.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m very thankful for the support and prayers from Basotho and the region at large during our time officiating at the tournament especially the final,\u201d Phat\u1e67oane stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was very emotional and happy after I learnt of the appointment to officiate the final.<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficiating the final of such a big tournament is a once in a lifetime opportunity and it reminded me that with hard work anything is possible.\u201d<\/p>\n
The prominent Lesotho assistant referee has already inked several milestones having made his Africa Cup of Nations debut in 2017, where he officiated four games.<\/p>\n
Phat\u1e67oane was also part of the officiating team that handled the final of the CAF Super Cup and the Confederations Cup in 2020 and 2021 respectively.<\/p>\n
His return to Lesotho after officiating at the prestigious continental showpiece in Cameroon, has been delayed as he is part of the match officials appointed to handle the CAF Champions League match between Mamelodi Sundowns and Al Hilal of Sudan to be played this coming Friday.<\/p>\n
Phat\u1e67oane has already tasted officiating at the World Cup following his appointments at the 2017 and 2019 editions of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Egypt and Brazil respectively.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lesotho\u2019s hero at the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations Souru Phat\u1e67oane has expressed his gratitude to Basotho for the warm support he received after he was assigned to officiate the final of the just ended continental showpiece. Phat\u1e67oane along with South Africa\u2019s duo of Victor Gomes and Zakhele Siwela re-wrote the history books of football…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3285,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n