Jelusic reacts to tricky Afcon draw
Lesotho coach Veselin Jelusic has reacted to the TotalEnergies 2023 Africa Cup of Nations draw after his side was pitted alongside the hosts Cote d’Ivoire, Comoros, and Zambia in Group H.
The Serbian born coach hit the ground running in his first assignment helping the Mountain Kingdom country eliminate Seychelles to reach the group phase of the qualifiers.
“Our focus for the qualifiers will be on our preparations, but we knew anyway that in our group, we will get the top ranked teams,” Jelusic said.
“Regardless of the teams we are going to play, our approach will be the same, to prepare as better as we can and to respect all our opponents while at the same time, we do everything possible to get the best possible results.”
The veteran tactician admitted that his side will have to dig deeper as all their three opponents boast players that ply their trades in European leagues.
“Of course, Cote d’Ivoire’ are the hosts for the next year’s final and will treat the qualifiers very seriously because they have already started with their preparations to make it a successful tournament. They are a powerhouse with top professional players,” the Lesotho coach stated.
“We know that Zambia are a very good team with players that play in some of the best leagues in Europe like the English Premier League.
“Comoros are also a team made of professionals playing for European clubs in countries such as France, Belgium and so on,” he said.
Lesotho has played both Comoros and Zambia over the years in different competitions, but Cote d’ voire are a closed book as the two countries have never faced each other before.
Likuena, as the Lesotho side is affectionately, won its last matches against Comoros and Zambia respectively.
Motebang Sera was the hero scoring a brace as Lesotho walked away with a 2-1 victory over Chipolopolo at the 2021 COSAFA Cup while Raboama Koloti netted the solitary goal in 1-0 victory over Comoros in the African Nations Championship (CHAN), qualifiers in 2017 though Comoros won the tie 2-1 on aggregate.
