De Jongh in Eswatini

Sikhumbuzo Moyo, Senior Sports Reporter
FC PLATINUM coach Pieter de Jongh sneaked out of the country for Eswatini on Saturday amid talk that the nomadic gaffer went to meet potential employers in the kingdom.

The Dutchman, who is known to be eager to take on a national team post, is also believed to have engaged Zambian authorities and his last post on Twitter seemed to substantiate those claims.

The Football Association of Zambia in January appointed Serbian national Milutin Sredojevic, popularly known in football circles as Micho. He was given the freedom of choosing his own backroom staff.

On Friday, De Jongh posted on the need for players to be mentally strong and then tagged Chipolopolo.

“Beside tactical, technical and physical factors, nowadays and more than ever players have to be mentally well prepared and strong. It is possible to reach the top, but the point is how long you can stay at this top, and that is where mental strength comes in,” wrote De Jongh in his post where Chipolopolo is tagged.

FC Platinum yesterday said the coach was on leave and outside the country.

“He is on leave and is outside the country at the moment,” said the Pure Platinum Play spokesperson Chido Chizondo.

She, however, did not reveal his exact whereabouts, but sources told Chronicle Sport that the gaffer was in Eswatini.

“I might not know where he wants to go, but it looks like there is something brewing. His twitter post recently did not help matters either because one wonders why he would tag Chipolopolo. If you check most of his posts he would tag a number of media houses in the country and journalists, but this time he chose to tag Chipolopolo for what good reason, nobody knows,” said the source.

De Jongh previously eyed the Warriors’ post and was one of the earliest candidates to throw in their papers when Zifa advertised the vacancy following the unexpected resignation of veteran gaffer Sunday Chidzambwa.

Before the country went into lockdown following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, De Jongh led Pure Platinum to an impressive 2-0 win over his former paymasters Highlanders in a Castle Challenge Cup played at Barbourfields Stadium.

The cup features winners of the Premier Soccer League title and Chibuku Super Cup where ironically Bosso were crowned Chibuku Super Cup, beating Ngezi Platinum 1-0 at Emagumeni with De Jongh their dugout boss.