Mboma, Siasia sing praises of improving Lesotho
Cameroon legend Patrick Mboma was full of praises for Lesotho after the Mountain Kingdom country frustrated Nigeria in the two countries opening 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifier at the Godswill Akpabio International Stadium.
The result ended Nigeria’s four match winning streak against Likuena, who took the lead through Motlomelo Mkhwanazi on the 56th minute.
Semi Ajayi’s late equaliser rescued a point for the Super Eagles as the match ended in a 1-1 draw.
Mboma, who won the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon in 2000 and 2002, was among several continental legends that watched the match in Uyo.
“The point was well deserved Lesotho because they played very well, like i said, i think Nigeria created more goal scoring changes, but Lesotho were very organised,” Mboma said.
“I was really impressed because we all thought it was going to be a walk in the park for Nigeria, but Lesotho stood tall in the field of play to get a point.”
His sentiments were echoed by Nigeria legend Siasia, who was a star of the Super Eagles in the 1990s and coached several of his country’s national teams after retiring.
The 1994 Africa Cup of Nations winner said Lesotho came to the match with a good plan, which worked out for them on the day.
“I think Lesotho had a very good plan for the match and they perfected it in the field of play to frustrate Nigeria,” Siasia said.
“If they did not get it right, we would be talking a different story with Nigeria winning the match by a big score-line, but Lesotho came with a good plan for the match and it worked out for them,” he said.
Lesotho has been on a rise since the Lesotho Football Association made changed to their technical team bringing in Leslie Notsi and Bob Mafoso as the head and assistant coaches respectively.
Their assignment commenced with the COSAFA Cup, where Lesotho reached the final for the first time in 23-years, settling for silver after a narrow 1-0 loss to Zambia’s Chipolopolo.
They followed that with an impressive display against star studded Ivory Coast, who had to dig deep to clinch a 1-0 win at the newly opened Stade Laurent Pokou in San Pedro.
