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‘FIGA’, ‘FELA’ STILL PART OF MY PLANS – DOMINIC

31/03/2023 08:27:00 Machawe Fakudze

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MBABANE – Sihlangu Head Coach Dominic Kunene reacted to the uproar caused by the omission of some players from the squad which played back-to-back AFCON qualifiers against Cape Verde.

The former Young Buffaloes gaffer was criticised by local supporters and former national team players, as they felt that he should have called up current MTN Premier League top goalscorer, in Mbabane Swallows lanky midfielder Felix ‘Fela’ Badenhorst and South Africa’s Motsepe Foundation Championship outfit All Stars forceful winger Justice ‘Figa’ Figareido. The former AS Vita player (Badenhorst) has scored 17 league games from the 18 matches he has played, while ‘Figa’ has scored five for All Stars. The duo was not part of the two games against Cape Verde in which Sihlangu lost 1-0 on aggregate. Sihlangu played to a goalless draw away in Cape Verde this past Friday and were beaten 1-0 on Tuesday, in the home match played at Mbombela Stadium, South Africa.

Kunene said the door was wide open for the players to be part of the national team set-up, as there were still more games Sihlangu would play.
“As we go along with our calendar with Sihlangu, I will definitely beef up the team as you know that there are a lot of games that we are going to play. More players will be called up including the two,” Kunene said.

He also said it was wrong for supporters to attack him on the loss to Cape Verde based on the unavailability of Badenhorst and Figareido, as it was not guaranteed that they would have changed the outcome of the results. The national team is mathematically still in the race to qualify for the 2023 TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations, to be played in Ivory Coast on January 13, 2024, as they have two points. They could finish on eight should they win their two remaining games against Togo and Burkina Faso. Sihlangu might qualify by being the runners-up in the group.