Lesotho coach Leslie Notsi has wealth of experience from more than a decade working the Lesotho's national teams, plus coaching experience in South Africa. The 60-year-old spoke to CAFOnline about Lesotho's next two assignments in the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers plus other aspects of the game in the mountain kingdom.
Have you started your preparations for this month's two FIFA World Cup qualifiers away in South Africa and Rwanda?"We have started with the local players, with training sessions. We normally have sessions on Mondays and Tuesdays. Of course, Tuesdays are the days that we really work, because on Mondays you find the players have had their club games on a Sunday, so it's more regeneration sessions. We are trying to give the local players an opportunity to represent their country. And as you saw during the CHAN qualifiers we lost narrowly to Angola. There are boys who have raised their hands in that tournament that we still considering now to come and compete in the World Cup qualifiers."
And when you get together, do you find your players are all very excited. The World Cup is something special after all ..."Of course, they are excited because they've seen the team progressing. Yes, it's still not where we want to be, but considering where we've been before it's been good, and everybody wants to get that opportunity to represent his country. So, they are always bubbly, excited to come for training, and it also gives us the opportunity to see how they behave, because character is always a factor we consider. How they respond to the group when they join with the others."
What are your expectations for these two qualifiers?"We are expecting very, very tough encounters. We respect both countries. Bafana Bafana had great results at the last two Afcon in Ivory Coast, they did very well. They've been very consistent. They have some really talented players in that team, and their team is mostly made up of players doing very well at their respective clubs and also in the CAF Champions League, as well as they have one of the best coaches around. That says a lot about what the team possesses and we're expecting a tougher encounter in their own backyard. But at the same time, we're saying, 'look, as a small footballing country, here's an opportunity to progress, to go in there, give it our all'. It's an opportunity for our boys to improve, to get that international exposure, which I believe they cherish. Our previous results in these qualifiers have been very encouraging. We go in there knowing that it's not going to be easy, but we're going to give our all. We want for all the players to have their self-belief at the highest level and we should not give our opponents too much respect. Rwanda are leading the group. They have also played very well, winning against the best, against South Africa and Nigeria. So we expecting another tricky fixture, but we've been there before, like you know, to other bigger countries, and we've come away with some decent results. So we just going to go there and do our level best."
Is your intimate knowledge of South African football an advantage when you play against Bafana this month?"Yes, it does gives us something. We played them in January last year just before they went for Afcon in Ivory Coast. We played to a goalless draw, and although, of course, it was a training match, the stakes were high, because the pride of each country is always a factor when you are neighbours. There was a lot that we took out of the match. We always follow the players in their different teams. But it's always very tough to play against Bafana
You have also had past success in the CAF African Nations Championship against South Africa so there must be some belief among your players ..."Very true, because when people were talking about playing against us like being given a walk over, we've tried our level best to change that scenario. First has been developing self belief and we also try to bring in other better tactical understanding. Most matches that we've played, we don't have ball possession. That's fine but then we need to be disciplined tactically and manage all the areas. Plus we also have learnt to handle not playing at home because most of our 'home' games in recent years have been hosted in South Africa. It has made the boys grow, you know, because we never play in our country with our spectators, our supporters there. I think the only match where we had more ball possession was against a Central African Republic last November. We know where our strength is, so we play to those strengths. Most of the teams that we go up against have players are competing in the best leagues in Europe. But that does not say we should give up. No, no, no, that's the opportunity for the boys to learn, to grow, to play together as a group."
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How does a country with a small population, and a hence a small player pool, punch above its weight?"I think it's about everyone working together. We need support. That's my personal opinion. I think the government has to play its part, which currently is not really happening, the corporate world should come on board, and also, of course, the teams, the clubs, because it should not only be the football association's responsibility. I think we must bring on board everyone who has the ability to make the game better, so that the boys can also push themselves. But currently, that's not what's really happening. I think we should push for better infrastructure. Some of the grounds that we played at, are not up to the standard that we need in terms of competing with the best in Africa and, of course, the world."
