Times Of Swaziland: FOOTBALL IS COMING HOME

FOOTBALL IS COMING HOME
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By Lwazi's Pandora's Box on 04/04/2017 01:00:00


My dearest readers ... “Football is coming home,” became the mantra when the
country that gave birth to football, England, hosted the European Championships
in 1996.
It was 30 years after captain Bobby Moore lifted the World Cup trophy for the
first and only time in 1966.
Legend has it that in England nay world over, even if you weren’t a football
fan, you couldn’t escape the euphoria of the Euro 96, which swept across Queen
Elizabeth II’s land.
The magical SwaziBank Cup, in all its 14 years of razzmatazz, has the same
effect. You had to be at Somhlolo National Stadium on Sunday to feel it, to be
transported to dreamland, to be mesmerised by its unpredictability, captivated
by its near-misses, awestruck by its dreaded penalty shoot-outs and enchanted by
its hyperbole celebrations.
The drama, razzmatazz and magic brought by the SwaziBank Cup is beyond compare.
Each edition tells a a different story with its own different slogan. It leaves
one purring with admiration at the unpredictability of the game of the billions.
It is a tournament, to paraphrase how Liverpool Manager, Jurgen Klopp describes
the enthralling Merseyside derby against Everton, the “salt in the soup.”
Sunday was no exception. In fact, by a long mile, it took my mind back to the
Euro 1996 where the best English player of his generation, Paul ‘Gazza’
Gascoigne and his lieutenant, the wing wizard, Steve McManaman, starred in a 4-0
demolition job of Holland.
Yes, the football on display might not have been classy – far from it – but
when two of the country’s biggest sides, Manzini Wanderers and Mbabane
Highlanders qualify for the semi-finals – especially after the sleep-inducing
football they displayed in the insipid goalless draw in the league last week –
of such a big tournament, the nation is thrown into endless bouts of joy and
fulfilment.