Redemption in Windoek: Lesotho U17 Girls Eye COSAFA Glory After Painfull Final Loss

Lesotho will be looking to improve when they compete in the COSAFA Under-17 Girls’ Championship, which will take place from May 10–17 in Windhoek, Namibia.

They made their debut at the previous regional finals in Johannesburg last December, reaching the final before experiencing a humbling 15-0 loss to Zambia.

Lesotho had performed admirably to get that far, giving up just two goals in their four games prior to the final while scoring an incredible 17 goals themselves. However, it was a lopsided final.

They hope to move past what was obviously a difficult day at the UJ Soweto Stadium, as evidenced by this performance, which highlights their enormous potential.

This year, they are placed in Group C with Botswana and Zimbabwe for the tournament in Windhoek. The top team in each group advances to the semifinals, along with the best-placed runner-up.

Lesotho won their first-ever game in the tournament with a 6-0 victory against Eswatini, despite not participating in the first four editions.

They then achieved a 10-0 victory against Comoros, with Ntsamaeng Tholo scoring four goals in that game.

In their final pool match, Lesotho lost 2-0 to Mozambique but secured the position of the best runner-up.
As a result, they had a rematch with Mozambique in the semifinals and emerged victorious with a 1-0 win, thanks to a 94th-minute goal by Nteboheleng Sooane.

Although they progressed to the final, they encountered a strong Zambia team on that day. However, the team gained valuable lessons from the experience and now have their sights set on the gold medal this time around.