SIHLANGU AWKWARD FOR ME – BADENHORST

MBABANE – Mbabane Swallows and COSAFA all-time goal scorer Felix Badenhorst has allegedly announced his retirement from national team Sihlangu – this means no more talk about his Sihlangu snub.

The 33-year-old was part of the national team that had a remarkable run during the 2016 Confederation of Southern Africa Football Associations senior men’s championships. Eswatini reached the semi-finals and he won the top goalscorer award after rattling the net five times. His name also became a household name in the region in 2021 when he became the tournament’s all-time top scorer in 2021 after he had equaled the record eight goals held by Zambia’s Peter Ndlovu. Badenhorst boasts nine COSAFA Cup goals. At this time, he was the Sihlangu’s captain. He also finished the 2022/2023 MTN Premier League as the goal king, after netting 20 for Mbabane Swallows.

It is currently a national issue that he has not been included in the current national team playing in the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 Qualifiers and the COSAFA Cup 2023, next month in South Africa (SA). Due to the snub amid promises by the squad’s head coach Dominic Kunene, that if he scored goals, he would definitely call him up. Scoring goals was his business in the recently ended season but Kunene changed tune as he appeared to suggest that the forward did not manage as many goals in the second round especially in some tougher fixtures. Kunene insisted recently when he announced the national team for the AFCON clash with Togo on June 18 in SA, Mbombela Stadium.

Sihlangu legends, fans and coaches have all said one thing about Badenhorst and winger, Justice Figuareido, who played for All Stars in SA last season but despite his good form, has been repeatedly ignored. Security forces’ teams’ players dominate the national team, particularly Kunene’s former team Young Buffaloes, Royal Leopard and Green Mamba. Among the Sihlangu legends who have insisted the player and Figuareido were a must in the squad if form and experience was anything, include Dennis ‘Yuki’ Masina and Absalom ‘Scara’ Thindwa.

It has since been learnt that Badenhorst is allegedly frustrated by the saga, especially with the public calling for his call up as it was creating an awkward position as he would like they begged for him to be there. In fact, he said that was all he said when he was asked about the national team, particularly if he would honour a call up if it came. “It’s sad that journalists can put words into one’s mouth as I know nothing about retiring from Sihlangu except that right now everyone’s talking so it’s be awkward to be in the squad after everything,” he clarified.

The local daily had quoted him as follows; “The environment right now would be too hostile for me to play for Sihlangu again. I respect the coach’s decision and I can’t force myself into the national team,” he is alleged to have responded while also revealing that Kunene allegedly told him he would be recalled but went against his word yet he performed to his best of abilities. Badenhorst is quoted by one of the local media outlets, Eswatini Daily News allegedly explaining he was retiring from the national team. He is also quoted spilling the beans about the coach seeking his protection from the media ahead of the Cape Verde AFCON qualifier played on March 28 as he had left him even then.

He felt the situation was so dire now, he would not force himself on the squad when the coach who ought to call him up went against his own words. Kunene also recently was quoted saying there were upcoming tournaments other than the AFCON Qualifiers like the COSAFA Cup and TotalEnergies CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN) where he would call up new players. Speaking to this publication Sihlangu is in camp preparing for the AFCON clash with Togo and the COSAFA Cup 2023, due to be held in Durban, SA. Eswatini was drawn against tough opponents in their COSAFA Cup group as there is SA’s Bafana Bafana, Namibia’s Brave Warriors and Botswana’s Zebras.

Also worthy of mention is that after the recent AFCON qualifier game against Cape Verde in March, there was a significant uproar on social media regarding Kunene’s selection criteria. Eswatini played a goalless draw and lost 1-0 to the islanders in their back-to-back group stage games. This led to a heated debate on Facebook, where the coach was further framed as giving reasons as to why he was leaving out the forward and Figuareido.
(Additional information by Chris Dlamini)

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