Times Of Swaziland: LEOPARD BROUGHT KNIFE TO A GUNFIGHT

LEOPARD BROUGHT KNIFE TO A GUNFIGHT
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Ntokozo Magongo on 01/03/2022 08:29:00


MBABANE – With the scoreline reading 6-2, clearly Royal Leopard brought a
knife to a gunfight against Orlando Pirates at Mbombela Stadium, South Africa.
This was during the TOTALEnergies CAF Confederation Cup on Sunday evening. Even
before they kicked the first ball in anger, Leopard were met by protesters at
the stadium entrance and as if that was not enough, they were blasted to
smithereens by a ruthless Orlando Pirates side which shoot up to the top of
Group B in the CAF Confederation Cup.
Here are the five things we learnt.
CAF got it wrong
While they are responsible for the fixtures, the Confederation of African
Football (CAF) got it wrong as they wrote that Royal Leopard were from Botswana
while it’s Eswatini team. They also missed it completely that the match was
actually played at Mbombela Stadium, South Africa but in their match reports
they wrote it was played in Manzini at Mavuso Sports Centre.
The eye-sore Leopard bus
It was disheartening to see Royal Leopard players coming out of their bus
belonging to the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS). Playing at this stage of
the competitions one must up the standard. What made matters worse was when
Orlando Pirates proved their class as they arrived in a well-branded and current
model coach. Leopard could have done better by hiring a coach or a decent bus to
take them to the game, especially knowing that the game will be broadcast live.
In the end, maybe the two buses foretold the gulf in class between the two sides
which was evident in the scoreline.
Leopard biggest losers
They made history for the wrong reason. Royal Leopard were the biggest losers
under the second round games of the CAF Confederation Cup group B stages. They
are the only side to have conceded over two goals as they lost 2-6 after Pirates
forced a comeback from 0-2. Leopard are now rooted at the bottom of Group B
standing without a point after two matches and they face Libya’s Al-Ittihad
Tripoli on Sunday at the same venue, Mbombela Stadium. A loss for Leopard will
leave them without a chance of making it to the last eight as they are yet to
win a game.
Own goal started the rout
An own goal by Royal Leopard defender Machawe Dlamini started the rout in the
6-2 win of Orlando Pirates. The group leaders were left stunned as they fell 2-0
behind inside seven minutes through goals scored by Mzwandile Mabelesa and South
Africa striker Thabiso Mokenkoane. As Pirates were still trying to settle in
Dlamini scored an own goal in the 20th minute and that is when trouble begun.
Pirates then scored two more goals before the break through Bandile Shandu and
Kwame Peprah. Leopard goalkeeper Phephisani Msibi was beaten three times in the
second half by Happy Jele, Kabelo Dlamini and Terrence Dzvukamanja and that is
how Leopard were outclassed.
Eswatini TV lost broadcasting rights
It was a sad story for Eswatini TV as they lost the broadcasting rights when the
Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) declared the local facilities unfit to
host the games. When the station crew travelled to Mbombela Stadium for the
games, they were made to only cover warm up training sessions and press
conferences, not the match itself. Eswatini TV could have benefitted if the game
was played in the country as they were going to be allowed to broadcast it live
without any costs. CAF gives the national broadcaster free rights to broadcast
the game live of which in this case the rights were given to SABC as per the
national broadcaster in South Africa.