SIHLANGU IN COSAFA BEST OF THE BEST

MBABANE – The national team, Sihlangu should stand tall.

They once gave a performance against Zimbabwe that is still lingering in the COSAFA’s best of the best top five games in the tournament’s history. The Council of Southern Africa Football Association (COSAFA) Cup will go under way from July 7 to 18 at Port Elizabeth, South Africa. COSAFA released the magical matches in the COSAFA Cup since the competition was first played in 1997, with moments that have been written into Southern African football folklore where Sihlangu features in their 2-0 win over six times winner Zimbabwe on May 5, 2002. According to cosafa.com, there has not been many sides that travel to Harare and come away with a win in any competition, but it has proven an especially tough venue for teams in the COSAFA Cup.

stunning

Against that grain were the Eswatini squad that competed in the 2002 tournament against Zimbabwe in the quarter-finals and came away with a stunning 2-0 victory. It was one of the great shocks in the early years of the COSAFA Cup and still today remains one of the biggest upsets in the competition’s 24-year history. At the time it was arguably the biggest victory in the storied existence of the Eswatini national side, which were then ranked number 132 in the world, but came away with a win against a home team placed 67 positions above them.
It was the first time Eswatini, during that time trading as Swaziland, had beaten Zimbabwe and the first away win for the side in five years of competing in the annual Southern African championship. Strikers Siza Dlamini and Sibusiso Dlamini both scored in the second half against a Zimbabwean side featuring five overseas-based professionals in their starting line-up.

shrugged

Siza Dlamini, who is now a coach, burst through the midfield and shrugged off several defenders, running half the length of the pitch before chipping over Zimbabwe’s goalkeeper Tapuwa Kapini for the opening goal on the hour mark.

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