LIKUENA head coach, Veselin Jelusic has announced his final squad for the upcoming COSAFA Cup to be staged in Durban, South Africa from July 6-17.

Recently crowned Vodacom Premier League Goalkeeper of the Season, Monaheng Ramalefane of Matlama is the noticeable absentee from the final squad with the LeFA Technical Director, Leslie Notsi telling the media briefing that the player had asked to be excused from the national team.

Jelusic said he is happy with the preparations that his team has had so far as well as the support from the football mother body.

“Regarding the time and our preparations, I’m satisfied with the preparations and support that we have received from the Association,” Jelusic stated.

“We initially started with the list of 30 players, but we had to cut the team to the final 23 as per the regulations of the tournament and we are happy with how our camp has gone thus far.”

The Serbian stated that he is relishing his first COSAFA tournament in charge of the Lesotho team, where they have been paired alongside Eswatini, Malawi and Mauritius.

“From my colleagues and Association, I have had all the support I need and I don’t feel under any pressure. We hope as we said, we will have good performances, but we know our opponents are very tough and at the same time, they will have tough games against us.

“Our ambition is to go as far as we can in the competition, but we know it will not be easy because all the teams have the same goal and some of them have better CAF and FIFA rankings.

“We will have the same approach as we did recently against Comoros and Ivory Coast because we respect all the teams, but all games we will give our best to get the best possible results,” he said.