LEOPARD TOPPLE ‘BIRDS’ IN CAF RANKINGS!

MBABANE – After their gallant display last season on the big stage, Royal Leopard have broken into the Confederation of African Football (CAF) rankings.

This is according to rankings published by International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS) yesterday. Just last season, Leopard were not featured at all. However, after reaching the group stages of the TotalEnergies CAF Confederation Cup recently, they have finally been recognised in the continent. They are ranked position 54 while Mbabane Swallows are ranked position 70. The only team that had been ranked before in Eswatini were Swallows. Their last rank back in 2020 was 421.

Leopard qualified to the CAF Confederation Cup group stages after they beat 17th-placed Algerian side, JS kabylie 2-2 on aggregate. They advanced to the group stage due to the away goal rule advantage. They won 1-0 at Mavuso Sports Centre on November 28, 2021 and lost 1-2 away on February 6. They went on to play against South Africa’s heavyweights in Orlando Pirates, Al-Itihad (Libya) and JS Sauora of Algeria. Pirates are ranked 10th while the Libyan side is ranked 28th. The Algerian outfit, on the other hand, are positioned 31st in the current rankings.

Improve

Leopard coach Edwin Matsebula said it was a great achievement. “You will recall that when we started playing, CAF games we were not ranked. This is a step in the right direction. This is a challenge as we have won the league and will play in Africa to improve the rankings,” said Matsebula. Swallows, on the other hand, had gotten the recognition after their brilliant display in 2018 when they played in the CAF Champions League group stages for the first time.

Swallows’ Communications and Marketing Manager Mancoba Mabuza said they were happy about the continued recognition. “If you carefully study the ranking methods used by CAF, you will come to realise that we had worked so hard in the past to amass points sufficient enough to still be relevant even at a time when we are no longer playing in the CAF inter-club competitions,” responded Mabuza when asked about the latest rankings.

He further said it was a motivation not only for Swallows, but also for other local clubs going to CAF inter-club competitions. “It is possible to win against the best clubs on the African continent and be recognised for your efforts,” he said. When asked if this did not pose as a challenge for the club as they did not qualify to play in CAF he responded: “As a club, we are still working extremely hard to regain our position of being a dominant club in the country, so that we can win a slot to play at the CAF level.”

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