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MBABANE – National Under-23s coach Sifiso ‘Nuro’ Ntibane has rued missed chances after a fruitless Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifying campaign.
Coach Ntibane felt the national junior outfits were out of luck to bow to Egypt by a solitary goal on Sunday night. This was during the second leg of the penultimate round of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers. The two sides had played to goalless draw in the first leg.
“We were unlucky. The boys gave it all and tactically we were spot on. It’s part of the game. We have to accept the results and move on,” said the gaffer.
Build
The Tambankulu Callies head coach had to build a team from scratch as they had been in active for over three years when he took over. He managed to advance past Botswana in the first round of the qualifiers with 3-2 aggregate win in August. He then held Egypt to a barren draw on the October 23 at Somhlolo National Stadium with 10-man before his exit on Sunday.
“I’m happy with the performance of my players. They really played well and I would like to thank Eswatini Football Association for the support. I would like to thank the players for their dedication and discipline and the technical team for working as a unit. We’ve learnt the hard way but life goes on,” he highlighted.
Egypt Football Federation (EFF) President Gamal Allam, on the other hand, through the football body’s Facebook page, congratulated the Egyptian troops for passing through Eswatini in their quest to play in the 2024 Olympic Games.
“Thank God for passing through this stage; now we have to focus well in the next stage which will be more difficult and needs more effort. We trust in you and your ability to make fans happy,” said Allam.
Egypt will play Zambia in the third round before qualifying for Morocco 2023 Under-23s AFCON finals.