Times Of Swaziland: TRAINING BAN WILL HURT - NHLANHLA

TRAINING BAN WILL HURT - NHLANHLA
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BY SANELE JELE on 15/01/2021 01:06:00


MBABANE – Young Buffaloes captain Nhlanhla Gwebu has come to declare that lack
of proper training will have a negative effect ahead of their vital CAF
Confederation Cup game next month.
This is after the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) warned teams including the
army giants, who are the only country’s CAF envoys, to adhere to the partial
lockdown regulations by not taking part in group training.
Buffaloes will play Tunisia giants Etoile du Sahel on Valentine’s day at
Mavuso Sports Centre in the first leg of this continental tournament, with the
second leg taking place on February 21 away in Tunisia.
“I think the training ban will have a negative impact on our preparations
because we are playing a top team in Africa. Our opponents are not on lockdown
and are having back-to-back games while we are not allowed to train as a
group,” Gwebu said.
“At the same time, we cannot really blame government for banning gatherings
since the start of the second wave. Right now people are dying and life is more
important than football, which makes it a complex situation,” said Gwebu.
Individual
He then encouraged his teammates to do individual training while they wait for
government to review the situation after 14 days. Asked about reports that their
Tunisia opponents have fired their coach ahead of their meeting, the experienced
goalkeeper chose a cautious approach.
“Well Etoile firing their coach gives no advantage to us. The open secret is
that they are good especially on paper as they are ranked 8th in Africa and have
won this trophy before, we just need to work extra hard. We should not read too
much into the story of their coach being fired because they still have good
players,” he said.
He also highlighted that the return of Wandile ‘Skosh’ Shabangu and Siboniso
‘Gaxa’ Ngwenya was a major boost ahead of their playoff game. He added that
they were hoping to have a full squad in their first game of the playoffs.