COACHES REACTIONS AFTER THE TWO-DAY INTERNATIONA FRIENDLY MATCHES
On Sunday,14th April 2024 marked the end of the two-day international friendly matches between the U17 and U20 national teams of Eswatini and Lesotho. On Saturday, the matches were played at the Somhlolo National Stadium whilst on Sunday they were played at the EFA’s Technical Ceantre in Lobamba. The reactions of the head coaches were as follows:
Sihle Mavimbela (Eswatini U17 Men’s National Team)
“The boys did well considering that we have just assembled the national team. The way they performed shows that with time they will improve and grow in the game. Such games are important as the players must be used to international football as the is more aggression and mobility in as far as international football is concerned which are the aspects that they lack.”
Mduduzi Nxumalo (Eswatini U20 Men’s National Team)
“These games helped us a lot as we now have a clear picture on where we are lacking. Yesterday we missed about 5 players who were doing duty for their clubs who are playing in the elite league and the MTN National First Division, and this affected our play. Today we played better, even though the are areas where we need to improve. We are yet to visit the regions as an effort of identifying more talent to beef up the squad”.
Makhosandile Blom (Lesotho Men’s U17 National Team)
“We played two beautiful games and the boys did well. Eswatini is a good team more especially on set pieces. Back home, we will work hard on dealing with set pieces as it is our major weakness that we picked from these matches. The is still more room for improvement for the players considering that half of the team is new as other players have graduated to the U20 national team”.
Sadwell Mothea (Lesotho U20 Men’s National Team)
“Most of our players are the products of the U17 National Team and the boys got a good practice from both matches. Congratulations to the Eswatini Football association for the excellent organisation of these matches as they went very well.We are confident that our players will grow in the game as we do not put them under pressure. We want them to learn the culture and philosophy of our game.”
THE FULL RESULTS
Saturday
Eswatini U17 Men’s National Team 1: 1 Lesotho U17 Men’s National Team
Eswatini U20 Men’s National Team 0: 2 Lesotho U20 Men’s National Team
Sunday
Eswatini U17 Men’s National Team1: 2 Lesotho U17 Men’s National Team
Eswatini U20 Men’s National Team 1: 1 Lesotho Men’s National Team
