‘ORDER’, MABELESA OUT OF BOTSWANA CLASH

MBABANE – It’s a huge blow for the national team, Sihlangu, ahead of their do or die match against Botswana’s Zebras in the COSAFA Cup Group A match tomorrow.

Sihlangu will be without the duo of Fanelo ‘Order’ Mamba and Mzwandile Mabelesa, who are both ruled out of the match after accumulating two yellow cards which have resulted in a suspension. Both players have started three games since the tournament resumed on July 6. They were both part of the five players for Sihlangu to be shown yellow cards by the referee during the 1-0 win over Zambia on Saturday afternoon at Wolfson Stadium in Port Elizabeth. There were 10 yellow cards in total issued by the referee during the match with each team getting five. Mamba has been one of the key players in the Dominic Kunene-led squad, winning two ‘man of the match’ awards.

Best

First he was the best player in the opening match against Lesotho where he scored a goal and gave an assist in the 3-1 victory. He also bagged the award on Saturday during the 1-0 victory over Zambia while Mabelesa who plays for Royal Leopard also featured in all the three games that Sihlangu have played so far, being the Lesotho, South Africa and Zambia matches. Felix Badenhorst is expected to be part of the team to play Botswana after serving the one match ban having been handed a red card during the 0-1 loss to South Africa Thursday. Sihlangu needs a win tomorrow against Botswana if they are to keep alive their hopes of reaching the semi-final stage for the fourth time since the tournament began in 1997. They are currently second on the log with six points with leaders South Africa who are playing Lesotho this afternoon and Zambia tomorrow.

Botswana, who is also in the contest for the semi-final qualification, face Zambia today and complete their Group A matches against Sihlangu tomorrow. Sihlangu Coach Dominic Kunene said it was not good for the team that some players would miss the game while it would have been good to have a full squad for the game. “We have a lot of players with us here. We brought a big squad with us and we will have a choice to replace those out. This gives other players a chance to shine and prove their worth. We are happy Felix is back but he would have to earn his place in the team,” he said.

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