United ‘Big 3’ can dominate CAF – Ally

MANKAYANE – The country’s largest football teams, nicknamed the ‘Big 3’ can do a lot better when they show a united front.

This is the view held by Mbabane Highlanders Managing Director (MD) Chief Ally Kgomongwe who said on Friday that his prayer was to see his team, Manzini Wanderers and Mbabane Swallows dominate the Confederation of African Football (CAF) interclub tournaments being the TOTALEnergies CAF Champions League and TOTALEnergies CAF Confederation Cup.

Currently with two interclub competitions spots due to poor ranking by FIFA (Federation of International FootballAssociations) and CAF, only the MTN Premier League champions Royal Leopard and runners-up Highlanders stand to represent the country in the upcoming Champions League and Confederation Cup 2022/23 respectively. Registration deadline for players with CAF is tomorrow or it will cost each team E4 000 per player to register. Highlanders make a return to the competitions largely dominated by the security forces teams, Leopard, Young Buffaloes and a bit-part Green Mamba alongside Swallows who last appeared in the 2017/18 Champions League.

WISH

“My wish is to steer Highlanders to be the first local side to get a star and this is achievable. My other wish is to see Swallows and Wanderers playing in Africa more often, as we are the country’s economic front in the game. We are big teams and we must dominate the continental spots,” Kgomongwe said.

The South African politician said this dream was within reach, through working and supporting each other as teams.

“The other thing that I saw which is dragging our football back is the lack of proper development in our teams, which forces teams to rush for tried and tested foreign players. These players and their agents are not helping the Eswatini game as they come and go quickly when it’s best to invest in local talent,” he said.

He said the country had a cream of talented players, who needed proper development and guidance. He further assured the black and white capital city giants, Highlanders that next year by this time, their club would be dominating with players in the national team.

The Selaotse ‘Sly’ Mosala-led side will kick-start the 2022/23 season by participating in the Bible Cup scheduled to be played on July 30, 2022 at the Mavuso Sports Centre.