E20K ‘POCKET MONEY’ FOR SIHLANGU PLAYERS

MBABANE – Eswatini Football Association (EFA) reportedly presented Sihlangu Semnikati players with a sum of E20 000 to be shared among them during a farewell ceremony, on Saturday morning.

Sihlangu players and technical team left the kingdom on Saturday for the 2024 Hollywoodbets Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Cup in Gqeberha. They lock horns with the Zebras, as Botswana are popularly known on Wednesday, in this competition’s opening match, at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa.
The competition will run until July 7. Meanwhile, teams that failed to qualify for the knockout stages return to their respective countries on July 3.A Sihlangu Semnikati player, speaking on condition of anonymity, shared with the publication that one of the officials distributed an amount of E800 to each player to use during their journey to South Africa.

“The players were each given about E800 to assist with expenses for the tournament. We are optimistic about our performance, even though the team is relatively new. We believe that we will do our best and make the country proud,” the player said.Meanwhile, interim Coach Sifiso ‘Nuro’ Ntibane finalised a 24-man squad. It is formed of three goalkeepers, nine defenders, seven midfielders and six forwards. Despite dropping Moneni Pirates star player Wandile ‘Shaka’ Simelane Ntibane boasts a strong youthful squad. It is headlined by seven Mbabane Swallows players, including Ayanda ‘Gandaganda’ Gadlela, who was dropped from the team that played the back-to-back World Cup qualifiers against Angola and Mauritius.

The squad also saw the return of Leon ‘Schuster’ Manyisa, Sizolwethu ‘Nunu’ Shabalala and defender Newman Philiso. The coach gave the likes of Nsingizini Hotspurs striker Sambulo ‘Masoso’ Simelane, Madlenya defender Gift Gamedze and Ezulwini United goal-custodian Siyabonga Magagula their first national team call ups. EFA Communications and Marketing Officer Muzi Radebe could not be drawn for comment at the time of compiling this report, yesterday afternoon. The team, as per the EFA Facebook page arrived safely in South Africa.

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