Africa-Press – Eswatini. Half a loaf is better than nothing.
This is the story of the 20 national team Sihlangu players, who are set to cash in on winning bonuses after a rare win. According to the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) allowance rate, each player is entitled to E3 000 for a win on national duty. A win is rare for Sihlangu, with no victory and a goal in all their six qualifying matches in all competitions in 2023.
The local football mother body is, therefore, expected to part with E60 000 as bonuses for the players. This is after Sihlangu walloped Somalia 3-0 in the first leg of the 2025 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations. The game was played in Morocco, who are the host for the next edition of the continental football showpiece. It is worth mentioning that Somalia like Eswatini does not have a CAF-approved venue to host games of this magnitude.
An impeccable source close to EFA revealed that the players were going to strike it rich after the win. “It’s an open secret that the players will get E3 000 each for this milestone,” the source said. Meanwhile, EFA President Peter ‘Samora’ Simelane said as an executive they were yet to sit down and discuss the bonuses.
“We haven’t discussed that issue yet, but we will sit down as an executive to forge a way forward on that matter. Our main mandate is to qualify for AFCON 2025 and bonuses would motivate the players to achieve that goal,” the president said. Coming to the win over the ‘Ocean Stars’, as Somalia are fondly known in football circles, Simelane said the players punched above their weights.
“This was a good performance from lads; they were at their element best, with this performance we would have beaten any team on the day,” he said. The president said the squad made the nation proud and as an association they were happy about the win.“We are now looking forward to them finishing the job next week,” he said.
On the other hand, the two sides would cross swords again on Tuesday for the second leg and the match has been penned for the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit. The winner on aggregate score will advance to the group stages of the qualifiers.
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