Home | Sports | SIHLANGU’S UPHILL BATTLE IN CONGO

SIHLANGU’S UPHILL BATTLE IN CONGO

12/11/2020 01:00:00 BY SABELO NDZINISA

Font size:

MBABANE - Today marks 249 days since we last saw a competitive and official football match due to the spread of COVID-19.

The inactivity in the domestic front, by extension, meant that the national soccer squads, in particular Sihlangu and most recently Sitsebe were directly affected. These squads get players from local teams and the fact that there has been no football activity compromised the match fitness of the national team players.

This was largely evident when Sitsebe, despite all their toiling and commitment, could not proceed past the first round of the ongoing COSAFA Women Cup being hosted in South Africa because the players were clearly lacking match fitness. As fate would have it, Sitsebe players are back home watching the final games of the competition from television like the rest of us.

Sihlangu left the country on Monday morning to honour a must-win 2021 AFCON Qualifier against the much-fancied Congo Brazzaville boasting an array of Europe based stars. Actually, their squad is made up mainly of highly experienced players who ply their trade in top European leagues and this could, on paper, pose some serious challenges for Sihlangu.

Losing

This is the third game in this group for Sihlangu after losing their two opening games, first a 0-3 away defeat to Guinea-Bissau before being hammered 1-4 by Sadio Mane-led Senegal in a game played at the Mavuso Sports Centre. This therefore makes this game very important for the Dominic Kunene-led charges as they need to avoid defeat at all costs to stand any mathematical chance of qualifying for the AFCON finals to be hosted in Cameroon.

The reality is that a few are giving Sihlangu any chance of coming away with a win, let alone a draw in this away match. Odds are stacked heavily against the visitors coming into this game but history books are showing that such games are no longer a walk in the park.

Granted, there are questions asked about the local squad’s match fitness, readiness and experience compared to their opponents, whose players have been active for a while now as they play Europe football, which resumed a long time ago. So, in terms of match fitness, the home side has the edge and again, the experience of the two teams is realistically incomparable. Congo Brazzaville is a polished team and favourites to collect the maximum points.

If anything, they are regarded as the group favourites to qualify alongside Senegal but that said, Sihlangu are not a write-off coming to this match. The bunch of players who travelled to the Central African country displayed a high level of total application during their two-week training camp at the Lobamba Technical Centre. That, to some extent, gave a glimmer of hope that these players can rise above any obstacle to win this game and cause a major upset in this group.

The squad’s captain Lindo Mkhonta gave encouraging words to the nation a few days before the squad left for the French-speaking country. While admitting that it was going to be a tough game, he sounded optimistic that they will not be in the game to add numbers but fight for the maximum points at stake. The local squad’s head-coach shared the same sentiments, mincing no words in declaring that they have a master plan to outsmart their hosts in this game.

Answers

The 90 minutes of play will provide the answers at the end of it all and the absence of fans could be regarded as a plus for the visitors given that supporters in countries like Congo Brazzaville can be very hostile in such games.

Kunene has already hinted that Sihlangu will not sit back but defend with the purpose to attack at the same time, which should make this game very interesting. Kunene is well aware though that his charges will need to be very in charge at the back because Congo Brazzaville are an attack-minded side that will never stop attacking the opposition defence until it opens up.

This means the Sihlangu captain must use his high work-rate normally seen from him at Young Buffaloes to ensure that no goals leak behind goalkeeper Nhlanhla Gwebu, who is expected to man the poles because of his experience. One refreshing aspect of the local squad is that the players are all committed to the cause, they are willing to work their socks off in the field of play and this they demonstrated during the preparations for this game.

For Congo Brazzaville, a total of 13 Europe based players reported for this game, with head-coach Valdo Filho spoiled for choice. Some of the big name players include Tsouka Dozi, who was born in France and plays in Sweden and Mayembo, who is in the books of Le Haure in France. Sihlangu’s opponents are ranked 93rd in the world and their top scorer is Junior Makissea, the left winger who scored in Congo Brazzaville’s recent friendly against Gambi which they won 1-0.

South African based Felix Badenhorst carries Sihlangu’s hopes of salvaging a positive result in this game and he will be complemented by last season’s MTN Premier League top scorer Sandile ‘Saviola’ Gamedze, one of the greatest finishers in the Sihlangu squad. On paper, this should be a walk-over for Congo Brazzaville but Sihlangu have shown that on their day, they can be a hard nut to crack. It is everything to play for in this game.