Chris Theko
The Likuena provisional squad made-up of locally-based players was assembled last week with one new addition Lesotho Defense Force (LDF)’s in-form striker Katleho Makateng.
Makateng is part of the Leslie Notši squad that last week commenced preparations for the March 2023 Africa Cup of Nations preliminary round matches against Seychelles.
The Pitseng-born forward hit the ground running in his first year playing in the Vodacom Premier League and as he netted eight goals from 18 games for third-placed LDF.
“It’s an honour for me to be called to train with the national team. I must confess, I had goosebumps on the first day, but the presence of my teammates from LDF made the situation a bit better. There is also fact that I worked with coach Notsi during his time as the coach of the Under-20, when we reached the final of COSAFA Under-20 Champions in Zambia in 2017, and that helped as well.†Makateng revealed.
The 23-year-old is set to maintain his goal-scoring form and put a brave challenge for the golden boot award.
“These are exciting times for me as a player to be in the race for the golden boot. I need to put an extra effort in training to maintain the goal-scoring form and make the final squad for the national team,†Makateng said.
“I have been getting a lot of encouragement from the coaches and teammates. That’s the motivation for me to put more work on my football and remain grounded.
“I’m just a goal behind top goal-scorer, who is Litṧepe Marabe and is no longer active in the league. I believe I stand a very good chance of winning with the way things are going for me and my team now,†he said.
The LDF forward scored a stunning goal to help LDF salvage a two-all draw against Lioli on Saturday. Before joining LDF, Makateng was playing his football for Litṧilo in the A Division.
