Jelusic praises brave Likuena
Likuena coach Veselin Jelusic has praised a spirited performance from his charges in Thursday night goalless draw against star studded Cote d’voire at the Dobsonville Stadium.
The West African country headed to the match at the back of a 3-1 victory over Zambia in Abidjan while Lesotho got off their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations campaign on a bad note losing 2-0 to Comoros in Moroni.
The Serbian born gaffer told a media briefing that his team had to be very organised if they were to grind a positive result against the Jean Louis Gasset coached side.
“In football terms, they are one of the best football countries in Africa and they are the host of the next Africa Cup of Nations. They are of course preparing for this tournament,” Jelusic told journalists.
“They are very ambitious and have a quality team. We know very well how many professional players they have in European teams, in very strong leagues and we will always respect them.
“But at the same time, we respect ourselves as well and of course we respect each opponent. We will never give up before the end of the game and we will always fight to achieve better results as much as possible.”
Lesotho is at the bottom of Group H with a point while the three other teams have already registered victories from the opening two matches. They will take on Zambia in back-to-back matches in the next round of the qualifiers.
“We are realistic and, in the future games against strong African opponents, probably, we will maintain the same approach, but add something else in our offensive play,” the Lesotho coach said.
He stated that it would be good for Lesotho players to get opportunities to play in bigger leagues as they proved their quality against one the continent’s top ranked side.
“Of course, one of our ideas is to see these players getting chances to play in the premier league in South Africa. It will help us when we play against strong national teams and let’s hope these things will happen in the future.
“Yes, the COSAFA Cup is another opportunity for our players to show their value and promote as we mentioned. It will be a chance for them to come to strong clubs and play professional football,” he said.
