WELL DONE INGWE MABALABALA!

My dearest readers ...

Long before the Terenga Lions of Senegal captain Sadio Mane lifted the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) into the Yaoundé skies amid fire-crackers, blaring Vuvuzelas and pure unbridled joy, Royal Leopard had already sent us on Cloud nine on Sunday in the southern tip of the continent. The police side re-wrote history, becoming the second team after Mbabane Swallows Football Club to reach the group stages of Africa’s second tier competition under the new format. Yes, the country’s football aristocrats, Mbabane Highlanders, reached the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup Winner’s Cup (now known as CAF Confederation Cup) in 1986, losing to Egypt’s Nationals (now known  as Zamalek) 8-0 on aggregate (having lost 5-0 away and 3-0 at home), but the format was not the same as it is now. Back then, you only had to play two games to reach the quarter-finals. The route is now much longer.

I still remember vividly the immortal words of dearly departed Swallows Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sibusiso Manana, who could speak the sun to sleep while you gasped for thin air in endless bouts of laughter, infamously mocking Royal Leopard for basking in ‘borrowed glory’ after the police side won the MTN league title in the 2015/2016 season.

reclaimed

Indeed, the Swallows of Mbabane not only reclaimed the league glory the next season, 2016/2017, but went on to become the first team from Eswatini to reach the group stages of the CAF Confederation Cup under the new format. Who can forget that memorable Saturday afternoon of April 15, 2017, at a packed Somhlolo National Stadium when lavishly talented midfielder Banele ‘Pupu’ Sikhondze scored a wondrous goal as Swallows defeated Congo’s AC Leopard 4-2? If indeed a picture is worth a thousand words, the sight of dearly departed Swallows Chairman, Victor ‘Maradona’ Gamedze crying a river of tears of joy as he held firmly official Emmanuel Seyama will be etched in my mind for eternity.

I remember like it happened yesterday that right in the middle of the pitch, we had a bear hug with former sports journalist Bhekisisa Magongo as hyperbole celebrations greeted the country’s soccer mecca. Now, true to Manana’s unforgettable words, Leopard are now basking in the Swallows glory. It is not borrowed. They have equalled the record set by Swallows. They are eating on the same table. The police side might have lost the second leg tie at the Stade 1st November 1954 Stadium 2-1, but the first leg 23rd minute headed goal by striker Thabiso Mokenkoane on November 28, 2021, has become priceless as it helped them qualify for the group stages on the away goal rule after Sifiso ‘Junior’ Magagula also scored away on Sunday.

commendable

By any standards, this is commendable. Not that we expect anything less from the security forces side, who in reality are a semi-professional outfit. This column, the State-of-the-Nation-Sports-Address, has always decried the fact that our security forces teams, who have all the resources, playing personnel and time, have always come back with the wooden part of the spoon in the inter-club CAF Competitions. It is commendable that Leopard defied all odds on Sunday to advance to the group stages. Given all the hazards which came with the travelling to Algeria, having to abort one of the trips and all this costing a little over E1 million, ‘Ingwe Mabalabala’ have done the country proud. In a country that desperately needs anything positive, Leopard’s qualification for the group stages has given something to smile about. For all our political, social and economic ills, people in the continent can also appreciate that there is actually some football being played in the former ‘Pulpit of Africa’.

Congratulations

Congratulations ‘Ingwe Mabalabala’ ... now go a step further and qualify for the knockout stages. It won’t be an easy stroll in the park against that indestructible institution founded in Orlando East in 1937, the mighty Orlando Pirates Football Club, Algeria’s JS Saoura and Libya’s Al lttihad. The Eswatini Football Association (EFA) has already shown a lot of support, so should government and the captains of the industry because the police side is now representing the country, not themselves. They need our outmost support in order to keep the dream alive. Yadla Ingwe Mabalabala!

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