‘NEW-LOOK’ DJIBOUTI FOR SIHLANGU

MBABANE – Sihlangu must be cautious of Djibouti.

The nation’s pride takes on the ‘Shore-men of the Red Sea’ as they are fondly known in their native land in September as per the draw in the preliminary round of the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup qualifiers made by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) in Cairo, Egypt on Monday. Kostadin Papic’s men should not be fooled by the last fixture where they beat the FIFA 195th ranked nation 8-1 on aggregate for the 2018 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. According to BBC news, the Djibouti Football Federation (FDF) has dissolved the national football team in a bid to ‘stop poor results’.

Disbanded

The FDF announced last year in a statement that the squad and coaching staff have been disbanded as the focus shifts to promising youngsters. The move came after Djibouti lost 5-1 at home to Ethiopia in the first leg of their 2018 African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifier. The FDF said there was no timeframe on the dissolution. “As Team A has no result, we will focus on youth football,” Technical director Omar Ali Mohamed was quoted. “This is not about money problems. It is the new policy of the federation. Maybe we will participate in the next Under-15, Under-17 or Under-20 competitions.”

The FDF statement said the decision was necessary due to ‘the never-ending series of bad results’ of the national team. Ranked 195th in the latest FIFA’s world rankings, Djibouti has never qualified for any major international tournaments. On the other hand, the locals are yet to prove themselves as they take on Angola on Saturday away in Luanda for the second leg of the second round of the 2020 CHAN Qualifier after playing to a 1-all draw in the first leg on Sunday at the Mavuso Sports Centre.

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