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‘BIRDS’ THREE GAMES AWAY FROM CAF’S E3.4 MILLION!

15/03/2017 09:00:00 BY CHRIS DLAMINI

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Mbabane Swallows

MBABANE – Ahead of the second leg tie against Tanzania’s Azam on Sunday, Mbabane Swallows find themselves only 270 minutes from being E3.4 million richer.

That is the guaranteed cash boost for reaching the group stage in the Total CAF Confederations Cup.
Three games is all Swallows have to go through and successfully so, then they will be in the group stage while also making history, not only for the club which had not gone past any of the CAF Club competitions preliminary stage before but for the country as well. This includes the Total CAF Champions League in which Swallows have also played but without success in the preliminary stages. It all begins this Sunday with Azam.

If it is mission accomplished after 90 minutes here, then the nation will wait for the draw, including the teams that failed in the CAF Champions League first round to know who is on Swallows’ path to the ‘Promised Land’ with the cash. The play-off match is also played over two legs, so it is all up to Swallows to beat Azam, do same to the next rivals and earn their millions. Swallows started against Botswana’s Orapa United away in Francistown, won 1-0 before winning 3-2 at home to end up winning 4-2 on aggregate.

Against Azam who are said to be not as tough as Orapa was, they lost 0-1 over the weekend away but not without real chances to win the match. Interestingly, Swallows’ next rivals if Azam is beaten as expected could be tougher as eight of the clubs to be in the draw for play-offs will be those that failed in the first round of the Total CAF Champions League.
The Champions League has strong teams like AS Vita, last year’s CAF Confederations Cup champions TP Mazembe, Esperance of Tunisia and South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns, who will be away this weekend with a 2-1 home advantage.

Should Sundowns fail to advance this weekend, chances are they could be drawn against the winners of the Swallows and Azam match to fight for a place in the group stages as well as the financial incentives. Swallows’ coach Thabo ‘Koki’ Vilakati said upon return on Monday that while they would miss their suspended midfielder Papy Tshishimbi, they would be ready for the challenge as much as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) star will be missed.
The red and white giants’ boss Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze has in the two wins against Botswana’s Orapa United in the preliminary round, given each player E8 000 to motivate them.