Home | Sports | SIHLANGU OUT TO ESCAPE LIKUENA LIKUENA ATTACK

SIHLANGU OUT TO ESCAPE LIKUENA LIKUENA ATTACK

Font size: Decrease font Enlarge font

(In Polokwane, Limpopo)

As Sihlangu begin their campaign in the 2018 COSAFA Cup against Lesotho this afternoon, the message from the Eswatini nation is loud and clear – bring it home.


After a historic third-place finish in the 2016 instalment of the tournament in Namibia, Eswatini have reasons to believe they can go all the way this time around after assembling a strong-looking squad. Head coach Anthony Mdluli becomes the second local mentor to take the national side to the regional soccer showpiece after Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga, who steered the team to bronze back in 2016. Eswatini were under the tutelage of Dutch mentor Pieter De Jongh when they endured a disastrous campaign in the past year. They lost 1-2 in the first match against Zimbabwe in the quarter-final. The country further lost 0-1 to Namibia in the COSAFA second-tier tournament, which is styled Plate and it is for quarter-final losers.


Standing in the way of the national side here in Polokwane in South Africa’s Limpopo Province tonight are Lesotho’s ‘Likuena’ (Crocodiles). The sides meet in a quarter-final clash at the new Peter Mokaba Stadium, which is situated over 200 kilometres from Johannesburg.


The last COSAFA Cup meeting between the two sides was back in 2015, and goals from Xolani ‘Chocco’ Sibandze and Mthunzi ‘Xavi’ Mkhontfo propelled Sihlangu to a win.


Sihlangu may be 19 places above their opponents on the FIFA charts, but they have reasons to be wary following mixed fortunes in previous meetings. In the 2013 COSAFA meeting, Lesotho won by 2-0.

Comments (0 posted):

Post your comment comment

Please enter the code you see in the image: