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LOBAMBA – There are other upcoming tournaments where the likes of on-form Mbabane Swallows player and former Eswatini international Felix ‘Fela’ Badenhorst will be selected.
The COSAFA Senior Men’s Challenge 2023 is still to come and if one goes by the country’s senior national team Sihlangu Head Coach, Dominic Kunene, then omissions of Badenhorst and the only active international in South Africa’s Patrice Motsepe Foundation League side, Cape Town All Stars winger Justice Figuareido will matter going forward. Kunene has encouraged Badenhorst to keep working hard, score more goals at club level and he would be selected for the national team as there were other tournaments. He spoke about these two omissions on Monday during the squad farewell event at the Eswatini Football Asso- ciation (EFA) Technical Centre in Lobamba.
A 20-player Sihlangu squad left on Monday to Johannesburg, South
Africa to connect a flight at OR Tambo International Airport to Cape Verde for the first leg of the back-to-back TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2023 Qualifiers before the second leg next Tuesday in
Mbombela Stadium, South Africa. Eswatini has no hosting venue as both Somhlolo National Stadium and Mavuso Sports Centre remain banned by the Confederation of African Football as they do not meet the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) international standards.
“Both players are still part of my plans as every liSwati player is eligible to be part of the national team. Felix should continue scoring goals for his team and he will be selected. Fort Figuaredo, we need to know the schedule of a player like him. If you can remember very well, we played in COSAFA Cup last year without him because he was tied with his team commitments. Then a player like Felix is still in my plans for the national team and in other tournaments you will see the players representing the country,” he explained. This is despite that fact that Eswatini dreams of a maiden AFCON qualification and still have a chance in Group B. The country’s opponents, Cape Verde have called up their strongest possible team including internationals in Spain’s LaLiga among the European leagues. Badenhorst and Figuareido are both in good form for the teams with the former even topping the scorer’s chart in the MTN Premier League where he has banged in 17 goals after 19 matches.
Kunene then spoke about the squad he was taking to Cape Verde, saying he was confident for positive results.
‘‘The players have been working hard at training and the commitment they have been showing me gives me hope that we will do well against Cape Verde. Football is a sport that will repay you for hard work and when looking at the preparations that we have had, we are expecting positive results,’’ Kunene alluded.
He further said the rest of the players left behind for the Cape Verde trip would be joining them next week.
“The rest of the players will join us and we have left them a training programme that they will be busy with while we are away in the first match,” Kunene added.
Sihlangu will play back-to-back TotalEnergies AFCON 2023 Qualifier fixtures against Cape Verde with the first fixture billed for this coming Friday at 6pm. Sihlangu have a point to show for their campaign so far, after a draw with Togo and a defeat against Burkina Faso. Eswatini is yet to play second legs with Burkina Faso and Togo as well. The leaders of the group, Burkina Faso have six points after two matches.