The 22-year-old has impressed playing for Linare, who are in second place in the Vodacom Premier League under the mentorship of Leslie Notsi.<\/p>\n
He is among a group of youngsters in the Likuena squad that are yet to win caps for the senior team alongside the likes of Seahlolo Mosoeu, Koenehelo Mothala, Lelula Phoshuli, Mokoteli Mohapi and Makhetha Mohlomi.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s very exciting and a big honour for me to be handed this opportunity to train with the national team,\u201d Lebetsa stated.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, it has always been a dream for me to one day find myself playing for the senior national team because I got a chance with the under-20 in 2019 playing at the COSAFA Cup in Zambia.\u201d<\/p>\n
The young defender explained that having several of his seniors from Linare helped him settle quickly into the national team set-up.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was not really of a big challenge for me to adapt after the call-up to train with Likuena as a I have a number of my teammates from Linare, who have been with Likuena for some time,\u201d the 22-year-old said.<\/p>\n
He stated that he looks up to experienced defender Rethabile Rasethunt\u1e67a, who has been part of the Likuena setup for the last three years and is also one of the captains at Linare.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is one play I look up to since I joined Linare from Nyenye Rovers in 2019 because I think he is a very focused player, who is disciplined on and off the field.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not a surprise that he has been part of the national team set-up for such a long time because he has been consistent for Linare and I would like to emulate his successes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Lebetsa said he will make the best out of the opportunity handed to him by the Likuena coach to continue where he left off during his time with the national under-20 side, Makoanyane XI.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know there is still a long way to go for me as a new face in the team, but just being part of the team says a lot about my potential to one day represent my country at the highest level,\u201d the Linare defender said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI tasted international football before with the under-20 playing the likes of Mozambique and Mauritius at the COSAFA Championship held in Zambia in 2019, unfortunately I missed out on other games through injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cAge is still on my side and with opportunities like this, I have no doubt that I will become a better player for Linare and the national team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Lebetsa is part of the Linare squad trailing Bantu by four points going into the last two fixtures in the race for the Vodacom Premier League title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Linare youngster \u2018Mellere \u2018Miller\u2019 Lebetsa is over the moon to have made the Likuena\u2019s preliminary squad for the upcoming 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier against Comoros and the COSAFA Cup scheduled for June and July respectively. The 22-year-old has impressed playing for Linare, who are in second place in the Vodacom Premier League under…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3750,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-gallery","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","post_format-post-format-gallery"],"yoast_head":"\n