THIS IS SIHLANGU’S MOMENT TO GRAB IT

On Sunday, Sihlangu will trudge to the floodlights-less Kamuzu Banda Stadium in Blantyre to play the most important fixture of the team since its inception in 1968.

At Somhlolo National Stadium on September 6, 1968 the first Sihlangu team played against Malawi in the day where at stake was nothing but celebrating the Kingdom’s independence from the British. This weekend, a home grown mentor Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga, carries on his tiny shoulders the nation’s weight of expectation in a match whose result could shake the pillars of football history.

Sihlangu can, for the first time in history, qualify for the AFCON finals which will be held in Gabon in January next year.
The team has emerged as a strong contender for the two best runners-up spots available for qualification, as victory over Malawi could guarantee 11 points, and if already qualified group leaders Zimbabwe, who play Guinea in Conakry an hour late, lose their game.

In his book titled ‘The 7 habits of Highly effective people’ Stephen Covey described courage as not the absence of fear, but awareness that something else is important.
Madze and his troops should know that this is the most important game in the history of Swazi football, and such milestones come with fear that needs to be confronted with courageousness. Below we look at the opportunities and threats going to the mother of all international games.

THE OPPORTUNITIES

The incentive of AFCON finals qualification: The current crop of Sihlangu players are on the verge of greatness in that if they qualify for the AFCON finals, could upstage revered former stars such as Tholeni ‘Schuster’ Nkambule, Ronnie Dube, Absalom ‘Scara’ Thindwa and Robson Dlakubi to name but a few.
The country has never came so close to qualification and the looming milestone should conjure up the last atom of energy needed to win the Malawi tie, which will be key to attaining one of the two spots for the best runners-up. There is absolutely no need to motivate them as the tie is self motivational. Qualifying for the AFCON could open doors of opportunities for the players to join professional clubs in the continent. 

Sihlangu’s vein of rich form recently: Any team that plays and beats Guinea home and away in a qualifying match should be in Gabon. Sihlangu has raked in six of their current eight points against the pre-qualifier favourites. And there is no crime in expecting them to beat Malawi away and force their way to Gabon. Buoyed by the COSAFA Castle Cup bronze medal in Namibia in June, the team cannot shrink now when the entire nation expects them to scale new heights. The technical bench has been able to groom a team that is now capable of handling itself even at the face of adversity.

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