Cameroon Played a Dirty Game

MASERU – Bahlabani captain Tšeliso Ramathe has described their experience in Douala before the match against Cameroon last Saturday as nerve-wracking and has also attributed the alleged ill-treatment by the hosts to their 4-2 hammering.

The national Under-17 side’s campaign in the 2011 African Youth Championship came to an end in embarrassing fashion, with the Lesotho delegation alleging the team failed to secure a proper training ground in Cameroon ahead of the crunch tie.

Team captain Ramathe has now suggested the development – and the intimidating atmosphere – could have been the reason why the team lost by such a wide margin in Douala.

The result in Cameroon saw Lesotho crashing out of the competition on a 7-2 goal aggregate, after having lost 3-0 at home in the reverse fixture of their First Round encounter, the previous fortnight.

In Cameroon, Ramathe said they had to move their training to a public park in the city after being provided with a pitch in poor condition by the Cameroon football federation – a development confirmed by the Lesotho Football Association (LeFA)’s acting chief executive officer Mokhosi Mohapi on Tuesday, September 14.

Said Ramathe: “Upon arrival in Douala, we were shown a pitch that was in very poor condition for our training.

“The pitch was not only always waterlogged but was also covered with sand, which made it so bumpy one could hardly control the ball. Our coaches condemned it on the spot and said we would not hold our training sessions there.”

The decision not to use the facility forced the Lesotho team into looking for an alternative training venue, by themselves.

And being in a foreign country in which they didn’t know their way around, they ended up settling for a park in the city for their daily training.

Ramathe said it was not easy to train in the open park as the grass was “just too long” to allow for proper movement of the ball.

“There were no goalposts and the lawn was just not conducive to allow us to knock the ball around. For the entire week we were there, the team was forced to do light training in this park.

We also suffered disruptions from people walking across the park and those who just went there to rest and relax.”

He said the circumstances forced the team into shortening their training sessions, instead of their “normal” two-to-three hours.

“At most, we trained for one hour. It was also always raining compared to the dry weather conditions here.

“We only got a chance to train at the match venue twice and on the day of the match, some players suffered fatigue and dehydration due to lack of proper training during the course of the week,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mohapi said LeFA had raised the team’s reported ill-treatment with their Cameroonian counterparts.

“The team management informed me about the problem they were encountering and I immediately raised the issue with the Cameroonian football authorities, who assured me the matter would be sorted out. They told me it was a small misunderstanding between our team and their officials.

But, anyway, there is nothing from the communication we have had with our team to suggest we need to take the matter (up) further,” Mohapi said.

In a related development, Bishop Molatoli’s job as Bahlabani coach is safe despite their exit from the 2011 Under-17 African Youth Championship qualifiers, according to LeFA public relations officer Baba Malephane.

Malephane said: “The coach is part of the team and he will be retained, together with the rest of the technical staff as part of our development strategy for the senior national team.

“But we are yet to get a report from the Bahlabani management on their overall performance in the tournament and it could somehow influence some future decisions we will make about the team.”