Tjamela relishes maiden COSAFA challenge

Lesotho Girls Under-17 coach Tjamela Tjamela is looking forward to his first COSAFA U-17 Championship ahead of the youth regional tourney scheduled for Mozambique in December.

This follows last week’s draw where Lesotho was drawn in Group A against hosts-Mozambique, ESwatini and Comoros for this year’s edition of the tournament that will be played in Portuguese speaking country from 5-14 December.

Tjamela believes Mozambique will be the toughest in their group as the host country but is adamant his side will be looking to cause an upset when the two countries face each other.

He is happy with the progress made by his team having recently played at the COSSASA games held in Zimbabwe, where they were able to stun the hosts.

“Mozambique will be our toughest opponent in this group due to the fact that they will be the hosts, therefore, their fans will be backing them to win the tournament, and I have no doubt that our match is going a good contest, where for us it will be all about causing an upset,” Tjamela said.

“As for Eswatini, we played them recently in friendly matches and we know what to expect in our match against them.

“Women football has been on a rise in Comoros and we are in the same bracket as them as a country where women football is taking baby steps, and this will be our first COSAFA tournament in this category.”

Tjamela stated that he is happy with the progress made by his team in recent months, where they have played several friendly matches with their COSAFA counterparts.

“The team that we have at the moment is well balanced in all departments, which is one of great advantages we have because there is no need to go out looking for new players, but to play more games and help improve our team to get ready for the tournament,” he said.