SIHLANGU VERSUS ZAMBIA IN CHAN QUALIFIERS
MBABANE – Already pitted against giants Egypt and Tunisia in 2018 AFCON Cup Qualifiers, it does not get any better for the nation’s pride Sihlangu.
Zambia’s Chipolopolo will be the opposition in the second round of the 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) Qualifiers. This follows a draw conducted on Friday in Gabon where the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is currently taking place.
The first leg of the tie is billed for September with Swaziland starting at home on the weekend of July 14-16 before the reverse fixture a week later. Worth mentioning is that Swaziland got a bye into the second round thanks to the top 100 world ranking that saw the country seeded.
Interestingly, should Sihlangu make it past Zambia after the two legs, next up will be underperforming South Africa’s Bafana Bafana or Botswana. These two countries will also do battle against each other on the same dates.
Whoever wins meets Sihlangu or Chipolopolo. If it is Sihlangu, the first leg will be away to either Bafana or Botswana’s Zebras on August 12 with the second leg slated for August 19.
In the last CHAN Qualifiers, Sihlangu were drawn against Angola but lost and even then, South Africa were the opposition they would have played. Angola went on to beat Bafana.
With South Africa having only three slots to the 2018 finals to be hosted by Kenya, Sihlangu have to win three games before booking a place in the final 16 of the tournament.
Only locally-based players are eligible to play in the tournament, which means the duo of AS Vita stars Felix Badenhorst and Mthunzi Mkhontfo cannot play any part but only in the AFCON Qualifiers.
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