FOOTBALL IS COMING HOME

My dearest readers ... “Football is coming home,” became the mantra when the country that gave birth to football, England, hosted the European Championships in 1996.

It was 30 years after captain Bobby Moore lifted the World Cup trophy for the first and only time in 1966.
Legend has it that in England nay world over, even if you weren’t a football fan, you couldn’t escape the euphoria of the Euro 96, which swept across Queen Elizabeth II’s land.

The magical SwaziBank Cup, in all its 14 years of razzmatazz, has the same effect. You had to be at Somhlolo National Stadium on Sunday to feel it, to be transported to dreamland, to be mesmerised by its unpredictability, captivated by its near-misses, awestruck by its dreaded penalty shoot-outs and enchanted by its hyperbole celebrations.

The drama, razzmatazz and magic brought by the SwaziBank Cup is beyond compare. Each edition tells a a different story with its own different slogan. It leaves one purring with admiration at the unpredictability of the game of the billions. It is a tournament, to paraphrase how Liverpool Manager, Jurgen Klopp describes the enthralling Merseyside derby against Everton, the “salt in the soup.”

Sunday was no exception. In fact, by a long mile, it took my mind back to the Euro 1996 where the best English player of his generation, Paul ‘Gazza’ Gascoigne and his lieutenant, the wing wizard, Steve McManaman, starred in a 4-0 demolition job of Holland.

Yes, the football on display might not have been classy – far from it – but when two of the country’s biggest sides, Manzini Wanderers and Mbabane Highlanders qualify for the semi-finals – especially after the sleep-inducing football they displayed in the insipid goalless draw in the league last week – of such a big tournament, the nation is thrown into endless bouts of joy and fulfilment.

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