FA MUST KEEP, INVEST IN U-20 SQUAD

My dearest readers ... Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

That’s not me saying it but one Albert Einstein. He might as well have referred to our National Fumblers...er Football Association of Swaziland (NFAS). 

The bowing out of the National Under-20 squad in the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Under-20 qualifier to Malawi on away-goal rule (after playing to a goalless draw away and a 1-all draw at home) was not surprising to me at all. Time and again, our junior squads are hastily assembled on the eve of big tournaments, only to be the whipping boys of those international events where they become softer-than-a-baby’s-bottom.

In fear of sounding like a stuck record, our boys are usually assembled two weeks before a big event, especially the annual COSAFA Under-20 Youth Champions and have, maybe, that once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence, play an international friendly, highly likely opponents being Lesotho, then proceed to the annual tournament.

Coach Mandla ‘Stofu’ Dlamini became the first coach last year to win a game with the National Under-20 squad in the COSAFA Youth Championships and the squad needed to win the next game to qualify for the knockout stage, a draw was the result and once again, we were booted out.

This procession of retrogression has become the norm since my twinkle-toed Matsapha United Under-17 starlet, Langelihle, learned how to walk. Year in and year out, the youth squad has met a cul-de-sac in the COSAFA Youth Championships. Its unwanted consistency displayed by our youth squads overall.

What has the FA done? Are they even bothered to find a solution to the malaise as things have nose-dived to epic proportions?
Dololo, nada, fokol, nix.....
Therein lies the rub.

Yes, the fraught footing following Sunday’s exit in the AFCON Under-20 tournament, suggests New Year, same old problems. The local Under-20s were overwhelming favourites to go through after playing to a goalless draw away in Blantyre against the Malawians but once again they underwhelmed as the former Mbabane Highlanders coach, Meck Mwase-coached ‘Junior Flames’ burnt a big hole in our continental dreams. The headed goal by Chinsinsi Maonga, on the quarter-hour mark, placed our squad on the precipice that precipitated its exit from the tournament after taking part for the first time in donkey years.

Granted, Sunday’s performance by Dumsani Makhanya’s charges gave a glimmer of hope that, if maintained, this team could be the one for the future. The boys missed a catalogue of chances that could have turned things differently but we cannot just rely on natural talent alone. Proper planning prevents poor performance.

It is about time, the National Football Association of Swaziland (NFAS) realised they need to invest in the junior squad if Sihlangu is to reach its full potential again. The Premier League of Swaziland (PLS) has done enough to establish national leagues for both Esibayeni Lodge Under-17 and Under-20, which ostensibly is supposed to be the core mandate of the national association.
We all know the football mother body has done nothing but lip service, where systematic development programmes are concerned. Staging events is not development – a person with one brain cell knows this.

The State-of-The-Nation-Sports-Address (SONSA) wants to appeal to the FA President, Adam ‘Bomber’ Mthethwa and his silk-suited souls to do at least one honourable thing – keep and invest in the current Under-20 squad as a future Sihlangu.
For starters, let a core of the team represent Eswatini in the COSAFA Senior Challenge and then go on to participate in the COSAFA Youth Championships. The boys have a bright future if we keep this team together.
Siyonqoba Simunye ...

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