MAKE OR BREAK FOR LEOPARD

MBABANE – “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favour.”

This quote by one Elon Musk must ring louder in Royal Leopard’s players as they look to overturn a 0-1 deficit suffered in last Saturday’s CAF Champions League preliminary round first leg showdown at Somhlolo National Stadium. Sifiso ‘Nuro’ Ntibane’s troops are in Kinshasa, DR Congo as they are eager to progress to the next round of Africa’s premier football club competition for the first time in three attempts. 

Winning the game by more than one goal will be enough for the blue and white outfit to set up a date with either Sewe Sports of Ivory Coast or Gambia’s Port Authority. The away side are likely to parade a relatively unchanged starting XI after travelling with the players who did duty in the first leg.

The security forces side do not need to be motivated as there is a ‘carrot’ of about E7 million if they go past the first two stages.
After throwing more bodies at the back at home, Leopard are expected to be more aggressive today.

During the last meeting in Kinshasa in 2015, Vita recorded a convincing 4-1 win. This was during the last 16 of the second-tier tournament styled CAF Confederations Cup. Familiar ‘ghost’ Mthunzi ‘Xavi’ Mkhontfo, who was impressive in the first leg, will haunt Leopard again. Towering midfielder Obama Francisco Ondo, who scored in the reverse fixture, will be eager to pierce the visitors’ hearts again. The 2014 runners-up are likely to be buoyed by a boisterous crowd of over 30 000.

There is no prize for guessing who the favourites are, but it is no reason for the country’s envoys to give up.

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