SIHLANGU MUST REWARD PAPIC’S FAITH

MBABABNE – That Serbian coach Kostadin Papic is onto something as far as reshaping the senior national soccer team.
Sihlangu Semnikati is not in doubt after his second official game since resuming his first national job in January.

His troops showed a lot of courage in the first leg of the African Nations Championship (CHAN) 2020 Qualifier against Malawi’s Flames, back in April 20 at Mavuso Sports Centre. Despite all the good football displayed, they missed clear-cut chances and came out goalless.

Today, they will need to either win the match straight-up or get a draw with goals, as losing dumps them out of the qualifiers.
The players that he selected for this clash are the same team he used in the first leg, so they need to reward his faith in them – he could have simply heeded calls by the nation to call up stars like the veteran Tony Tsabedze, MTN League leading top scorer Musa Dlamini who has 15 goals or even Sandile Hlatshwako, Barry Steenkamp or Lungelo Tsabedze.

Call-up

However, none of these players got the call-up; instead, Papic kept faith in having more midfielders to use as his attack, only retaining one striker Sabelo ‘Sikhali’ Ndzinisa (one goal this season) and dropped one in Phinda ‘Phindrix’ Dlamini.

So, Sihlangu has no outright striker but Sikhali whose match fitness is still suspect, as he only started kicking the ball late in the second round of the MTN Premier League after nearly two years on the sidelines, following his life-threatening head-on collision in a game against Mbabane Highlanders.
However, the coach is always looking for certain qualities from each individual to suit his style of play which is one of the reasons he has kept his faith on the team that did duty in the first leg.

dropped

However, he also dropped goalkeeper Khanyakwezwe Shabalala who had no part in the first leg, taking with him Royal Leopard’s Phephisani Msibi and Mbabane Swallows’ Sandanezwe Mathabela.

It is expected Msibi will start this one. Overall, this will be Papic’s third official match in charge, as his first was a 4-0 defeat away to Tunisia in early April.
If anything, the nation would appreciate positive results from this match given the fact that Malawi’s Flames did not appear that much of a threat but if unwatched, can be dangerous upfront. Go on Sihlangu, make the nation proud!

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