NO EXCUSES FOR RESTED SIHLANGU

Recovery will not be an excuse for the country’s senior national team Sihlangu Semnikati head coach Dominic Kunene, when his troops take on Botswana this afternoon in the final and decisive group match.

Can Sihlangu reach its fifth COSAFA Cup semi-final in the 20 years of the competition? Certainly so given that they have grinded results against Zambia, fought gallantly against a below par South Africa’s Bafana Bafana but were unfortunate to lose, beat Lesotho 3-1, so the momentum and motivation is there. Moreover, Botswana had a tough game yesterday against Zambia, who were itching for their first win after losing all two opening matches to Lesotho and Eswatini, who have rested since their stunning 1-0 win over the Zambians.

Achieve

Kunene has it all in his camp’s hands to make the semi-final and can achieve that with three wins. A win here guarantees the semi-final spot and is important because in yesterday’s matches pitting South Africa against Lesotho, Botswana against Zambia, the results were due to have an effect on this match. Particularly, should Botswana win against Zambia who are already out of the race even if they won their two matches alongside Lesotho based on head-to-head with Eswatini, it will mean equal number of points at six. Meanwhile, South Africa will have nine if they beat Basotho as it would be anticipated. It is Botswana that stands the chance to eliminate Eswatini now as they went to their match against Zambia with three points after the 4-0 rout of Lesotho and if they win it, they will have six points and could finish on nine with another win today against Kunene’s Sihlangu. However, if Botswana fails to win then they will try to do it today against a team that has defended resolutely up to now and looks dangerous going forward.

Boosts

Kunene will also welcome forward Felix Badenhorst back into the squad after missing the Zambia game due to suspension following a red card against Bafana Bafana, which boosted his attacking options. On paper, his team looks good to go all the way to the semis and the fact that they will face a team that will only have rested hours after a gruelling encounter should work in Eswatini’s advantage. So, Eswatini must have certainly hoped that Zambia rose to the occasion and put brakes on Botswana’s Zebras with a defeat so they come into today’s clash three points behind. The best thing to do is to go for a win and seal the semi-final spot with South Africa favourites to progress as well. Meanwhile, Sihlangu will miss the long throw-ins by Fanelo ‘Order’ Mamba as they have become an integral part of their play especially in the form of attack. He is out due to suspension alongside defender Mzwandile Mabelesa but still, Kunene has enough firepower to replace the two and still emerge victorious against the Tswanas.
The last meeting was in 2018 in an international friendly and Botswana won 2-0 otherwise the statistics show Eswatini also beat them once while another meeting ended goalless. Botswana also beat Zambia 1-0 last November.   
                                                                       

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