HORTON PUTS HEAD ON THE BLOCK FOR COSAFA

LOBAMBA – Eswatini Football Association (EFA) Vice President Steve Horton, believes Sihlangu will qualify for knockout stages of the upcoming Hollywoodbets COSAFA Cup.

Horton expressed his optimism during the Senior National Team’s farewell function held at the EFA Technical Centre yesterday.The Vusi Hall-led delegation left this kingdom late yesterday for the 2024 Hollywoodbets Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Cup tournament. The prestigious tournament will be staged at Gqeberha in South Africa (SA) from next Wednesday to July 7. Sihlangu will once again face Botswana in the opening match of this competition.

Qualify

“I am putting my head on the block. Sihlangu will qualify, they would rather be knocked out in the semi-final stages at least,” he said.  Horton added that he had faith in the travelling squad, as other countries were excelling with youthful squads. “We decided youth is the way to go in tournaments like COSAFA. Then we sat down with coaches and selected this squad,” he said. Meanwhile, Minister of Sports, Youth and Culture Affairs Bongani Nzima called for Sihlangu to break their ‘winless curse.’ “This team is called Sihlangu Semnikati because it belongs to His Majesty. It is the players, duty to represent him well. I am expecting good results from coaches and players. The nation needs Sihlangu to win even if its once. The national team has played a lot of defeats and it no longer hurts hearing of such a result, as it has become a norm,” Nzima said.

In addition, EFA President Peter ‘Samora’ Simelane shared the same sentiments, saying he knows Sihlangu would not let emaSwati down. “They know sealing a victory will bring a smile to their faces. We are grateful to the minister for pushing our stadium issue. We hope to host games locally in September,” he said.  Sihlangu interim coach Sifiso ‘Nuro’ Ntibane trimmed his troops to 24. Moneni Pirates star player Wandile ‘Shaka’ Simelane was the only player dropped. Simelane was dropped due to a tactical decision.

“This is a competitive squad. Football now played with capabilities not age. We have prepared the players tactically, physically and psychologically, they are ready to fight. They know regardless of getting exposure representing the country well a top priority,” Ntibane said.  As per the COSAFA Cup regulations each team must have at least 23 players in its final squad. Ntibane said he tagged an extra player along in the case of emergencies.  Coaches were permitted to select a preliminary squad of 30 players, which was supposed to be reduced to 23 for the final tournament in Port Elizabeth. Teams may also bring seven officials, including coaches and medical personnel.

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