SIHLANGU COACH’S JOB SAFE - ‘SAMORA’

MBABANE – The EFA is not succumbing to the pressure to relieve Sihlangu Head Coach Dominic Kunene of his duties.

Eswatini Football Association (EFA) President Peter ‘Samora’ Simelane assured that Kunene’s job was safe despite calls from some fans for the gaffer to step down. After back-to-back TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 qualifying fixtures against Cape Verde, which were played in the recently-ended FIFA international window, some national team fans were quick to vent their frustration on social media platforms. They showed their dissatisfaction with the former Young Buffaloes coach, with many suggesting that the seasoned gaffer should do the honourable thing by tendering his resignation with immediate effect. Sihlangu went down 0-1 to Cape Verde on Tuesday afternoon at Mbombela Stadium Nelspruit. A few days earlier, they held the Blue Sharks to a goalless draw in their backyard. With two games to go, Sihlangu are now in serious danger of being eliminated in the qualifiers, as they are on two points. They are five points adrift of the qualifying spot. Simelane, when quizzed on Kunene’s fate, mentioned that as per the contract of the head coach, the performance would be reviewed at a later stage.

“We will sit down with the coach after the end of the next two AFCON games and review his performance. We are not able to interfere with his work at the moment as the executive. At the end of the games, we will get a full report from his technical team,’’ he said. ‘Samora’ went on to say that Kunene contract was coming to an end in October, after the next two AFCON qualifying fixtures, against Burkina Faso and Togo. “We cannot fire the coach at this point in time. It was agreed prior before he signed his contract that we will review his performance after the end of games later this year,” he said. The president went on to say that he was yet to be told of the supporters’ latest call for the coach to resign. “We will wait for a full report on the past games,” he added. Meanwhile, the national team mentor said that he was happy with performance of the players in the past two games. “On a personal perspective, we are happy as the technical team with the performance of the boys in the back-to-back fixtures against Caper Verde. I don’t want to say much on the issue trending on social media because football is a game of opinions,” he said briefly.

unbeaten

Sihlangu’s next encounter will be against table-proppers Togo and unbeaten Burkina Faso in their last two games. These two teams are on two and nine points, respectively. They drew their Tuesday’s encounter 1-all at Stade De Kegue Stadium in Togo. Meanwhile, it is common in football for fans to call for the dismal of underperforming coaches. Just last month, English Premier League side Leeds United fans demanded the sacking of Head Coach Jesse Marsch, after their 1-0 defeat to Nottingham Forest which left them in hovering above the relegation zone. The American was under intense pressure  and he was eventually sent packing.

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