Africa-Press – Eswatini. SENIOR football national team Sihlangu coach Dominic Kunene has gone for his tried and tested players who include 14 players from Royal Leopard and Young Buffaloes in his 26-men squad that went to camp on Sunday night.
Sihlangu stars are housed at the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Technical Centre in Lobamba in readiness for the 2023 Total Energies AFCON Qualifier matches against Togo and Burkina Faso to be played on June 3 and June 7, respectively. The pride of the nation defeated lowly ranked Somalia 5-1 on aggregate in the preliminaries to enter this stage where they also have Cape Verde in their group.
Sihlangu will start away to Togo in the opening game before hosting Burkina Faso four days later. Surprisingly, Kunene has included Mbabane Swallows midfielder Leon Manyisa who has been sparingly used this season while there was no place for future prospects in Malanti Chiefs goalkeeper Xolani ‘Xoxo’ Gama, Swallows duo of Nhlanhla Ngwenya and Sizolwethu ‘Nunu’ Shabalala, back on form Green mamba midfielder Mcolisi Mkhontfo and free scoring Manzini Sea Birds striker Mthokozisi Gwebu, among others.
The former Young Buffaloes mentor has also recalled the experienced Machawe Dlamini of Royal Leopard in his backline while the squad remains relatively unchanged from the one that did duty against Somalia. Internationals Justice Figareido who plays for Cape Town All Stars in the South Africa’s Glad Africa Championships and Bonginkhosi ‘Manyovu’ Dlamini are also in the squad for these matches.
EFA has a headache, however, in relation to its home game against the ‘Stallions’ of Burkina Faso on June 7 after the ban of Somhlolo National Stadium by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) following a recent inspection.
Somhlolo, according to the continental governing body, still does not meet the required standards to host Category ‘A’ CAF games and EFA will be forced to seek refuge in neighbouring South Africa, possibly the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit.
“The issue of the host venue is still being discussed at administration level and nothing concrete can be communicated as of yet,” said EFA Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe.
In a statement, Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga encouraged EFA to appeal the CAF decision after government spent E30 million rehabilitating the venue over the past two years.
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