LEOPARD ON BRINK OF RE-WRITING HISTORY

My dearest readers ...

When dearly departed Mbabane Swallows Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sibusiso Manana, who could speak the sun to sleep while you gasped for thin air in endless bouts of laughter, infamously mocked Royal Leopard for basking in ‘borrowed glory’ after the police side won the MTN league title in the 2015/2016 season, it was a fully-loaded statement.  Indeed, in the 2016/17 season, the Swallows of Mbabane not only reclaimed league glory, but they went on to become the first team from Eswatini to reach the group stages of the CAF Confederation Cup under the new format.

memorable

Who can forget that memorable Saturday afternoon of April 15, 2017, when lavishly talented midfielder Banele ‘Pupu’ Sikhondze scored a wondrous goal as Swallows defeated Congo’s AC Leopard 4-2 at a packed Somhlolo National Stadium? If indeed a picture is worth a thousand words, the sight of chairman Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze crying a river of tears of joy as he held firmly Emmanuel Seyama will be etched in my mind for eternity. Sheer unbridled joy!
Yes, the country’s football aristocrats, Mbabane Highlanders had reached the quarter-final stage of the Africa Cup Winners Cup (now known as CAF Confederation Cup) in 1986, losing to Egypt’s Nationals (now known as Zamalek) 8-0 on aggregate (having lost 5-0 away and 3-0 at home), but the format was not the same as it is now. You only had to play two games to reach the quarter-finals. The route is now much longer.

Swallows, reaching both the CAF Confederation Cup group stages in 2017 and the CAF Champions League in 2018, now ranks as the highest peak ever to be reached by any team in the country. Now, Royal Leopard are 90 minutes away from equalling that record set by the red and white glamour side. In beating Algeria’s JS Kabylie 1-0 on Sunday courtesy of a Thabiso Mokenkoane’s 23rd headed goal, ‘Ingwe Mabalabala’ are on the brink of re-writing history books. Besides the historic feat there is also the smallernyana matter of the E7.4 million sweetener that goes with reaching the group stages of Africa’s second tier competition. Edwin Matsebula and his boys need no reminder what Saturday’s clash away in Algiers means to them as a team, as individuals and to Eswatini as a country.

Yes, Saturday’s 1-0 victory was scrappy (but don’t they all count?) and the police side would need to re-double their efforts to come unstuck away in Algiers.
The Algerians, even on Sunday, created enough chances to win the game at a canter, but thanks to the agility of goalkeeper Phephisani Msibi, who pulled off some breathtaking saves to give the local side an edge going to the second leg tie. The refereeing too, by the Seychelles match officials, left quite a lot to be desired and all these factors is what Leopard should prepare themselves for in the North African country dubbed the ‘a dream if sand’ as once described by contemporary Algerian novelist Assia Djebar. It won’t be an easy stroll in the park away at the 45 million-populated country and Matsebula has to come with a proper game-plan if the dream to reach the group stage is to come alive.

slender

For good measure, they have it in their hands even though the slender 1-0 win is really what it is – a slender advantage. Sunday’s game will be a completely new clash which will require full concentration from every department and every soul in blue and white. I still feel ‘Ingwe Mabalabala’, who are on a rich vein of scoring form and remain undefeated in all competitions this season, can hold their own to come out of Algiers unscathed. Yes, they are entering a lion’s den, but a large part of their squad is made up of players who have the tactical know-how and experience at this level of the game. Most of the players form a nucleus of head coach Dominic Kunene’s Sihlangu Semnikati starting line-up. We expect no less from Leopard. This is an opportunity for them to re-write the history books. Go for it ‘Ingwe Mabalabala’, you have our outmost support.

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