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MBABANE – Former Manzini Wanderers and Mozambican star Mathews ‘Chaka Chaka’ Mandlazi is set to be part of the legends to face their Eswatini counterparts early next month.
Mandlazi shone in yesteryears in the mid 1980s. He spent about seven years in the country where he played for Wanderers and Denver Sundowns before moving to Portugal.
He also had a stint with South Africa’s Kaizer Chiefs, where he spent a couple of months before coming back to Eswatini to play for Denver Sundowns.
A list of the local legends was released on national radio, which is the Eswatini Broadcasting and Information Services (EBIS 1) Sports Show, hosted by Nathie ‘Mdockies’ Hlophe, which also had the name of former national team Sihlangu coach, Umbelebele and Mbabane Swallows ball wizard (now Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs) Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga.
Clueless
Minister of Sports, Culture and Youth Affairs’ Communications Officer Sibongiseni Zondi said he was clueless about Bulunga taking part in the game.
“I don’t know anything about it, but let me check with the Honourable Minister; I will get back to you as soon as I get hold of him,” Zondi said.
The communications specialist came back to say that nothing had been confirmed about Bulunga taking part in the games.
The legends game forms part of the United African Communities in Eswatini (UACE) and African Carnival Festivities, scheduled to start on September 2-5, 2022. This initiative, according to the Chairperson of the UACE Emmanuel Ofori, is aimed at promoting African Arts, Tourism and Culture through sports.
Headline
Ofori revealed that to headline the continent’s legends was former Ghana’s Black Stars striker Gyan Asamoh. He said the legends were expected to arrive in the country on September 2 and they would attend a gala dinner on the same day.
Ofori, when asked about the preparations of the much anticipated match, said everything was all set as they had to play friendly games before the big day.
“We have to play friendly games with three Premier League clubs to enable us to get a good practice,” Ofori said.
He did not, however, reveal the names of the three elite league teams that they were looking to play against ahead of the legends game.