Africa-Press – Eswatini. SIHLANGU Semnikati’s next opponents in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers Somalia are not wasting anytime in gearing up for their clash, having already started their training camp.
The Ocean Stars, as the team is fondly known, strated their training on Monday under the guidance of coach Patrick De Wilde.
Wilde has already selected a 26-man preliminary team that will be confirmed at the end of the month, with the two legs to be played between March 18 and 26.
The coach said they would be using the time they have before the international FIFA break to start their camp with the local players as well as identify the new players they could bring into the senior national team.
“We will start our camp with local players in Mogadishu and we will have two training sessions every week. We have also set up special training sessions for new players we want to integrate into the team so they catch up with the system we play,” Wilde said.
The coach went on to thank the support he had received from the Somali Football Federation.
Further reports coming out of Somalia also indicate that the squad could also be boosted by the return of former captain and international Abdulsamed Abdullahi.
The former skipper, who currently plays as a midfielder for Mladost DG in Montenegro, is said to have been asked to return to the national team setup following an extended absence from The Ocean Stars squad.
Meanwhile, Abdullahi was recently quoted in an interview on the Somali Athlete website as saying that he was confident they could get a good result against Eswatini with the right group of players.
“I am sure we can get a positive result against Eswatini if we select the best players possible,” he said.
The last time the two sides met in the same competition, which was the 2023 AFCON Qualifiers, it was Sihlangu that emerged victorious, beating their opponents 5-1 on aggregate over two legs. They won 2-1 at home and followed that up with a comfortable 3-0 win in the away leg.
For More News And Analysis About Eswatini Follow Africa-Press
