‘D4D’, ‘SIKHALI’, ‘PAPI’ BLOW FOR SIHLANGU

MBABANE – It will now big a bigger mountain for Sihlangu to climb against Angola. The nation’s pride will be taking on Angola on July 28, 2019 for the 2020 African Nations Championships (CHAN) qualifiers against Angola at the Mavuso Sports Centre for the first leg of the second round.

The Kostadin Papic’s men will be without industrious midfielder Njabulo ‘D4D’ Ndlovu, clinical striker Sabelo ‘Sikhali’ Ndzinisa and gifted midfielder Colani ‘Papi’ Skhondze.
These three players were among the 32-men called by the Serbia-born strategist for full camp at the Lobamba Technical Centre this past Sunday.

However, they are not in camp with the rest of the players after the duo of ‘D4D’ and ‘Sikhali’ completed a move to South African National First Division (NFD) outfit Mbombela United.
‘Papi’, on the other hand, is with Mozambican top side Desportivo de Maputo after penning down a one-year loan deal. All three players played for capital giants Mbabane Swallows in the past season.

active

As per the Confederation of African Football (CAF) rules, players who are not active in domestic leagues during the tournament are not allowed to take part.
Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Marketing and Communications Officer Muzi Radebe said the rules of the competition were clear that only players active in domestic leagues were eligible to play.
However, he said he will not commit himself on whether the trio would play or not against Angola as only their clubs knew if they were indeed registered to the foreign clubs or not.

informed

“We were only informed by local media that they have moved to foreign teams, we do not know whether they are registered or not at those teams,” he said.
Meanwhile, sources at the camp also confirmed that the three players were not part of the team preparing for the game at the technical centre. The sources also shared similar sentiments with the EFA that they were not really sure if the players were registered with the foreign teams save for the fact that they received such information from local media.

The sources were sceptical to state for sure that the three players would be absent during the game as they were not aware of their agreements with the affected clubs.

opportunities

Head coach Kostadin Papic was also drawn for comment and said it was something good for the country in that more players got opportunities to play outside the country.
He did not sound worried on what effect this might have against Angola with the absence of these key players but highlighted that other players would get a chance to prove themselves.
“We will find replacements and give other players an opportunity for exposure,” he said. Another player who is currently with the team is Mthunzi ‘Xavi’ Mkhontfo, who is in South Africa for trials with Stellenbosch FC.
 

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