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Raymond Jaravaza/ Nhlalwenhle Ngwenya
TSHOLOTSHO FC coach Lizwe Sweswe is a man on a mission.
And to get to the Promised Land, the man tasked not only with surviving relegation but finishing in the top eight of the Castle Lager Premier Soccer League, Lizwe Sweswe is drawing inspiration from none other than Leicester City Football Club.
The 2016 English Premier League champions a�� The Foxes a�� defied all odds from surviving relegation last season to muscling the title from seasoned campaigners Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester City.
But Sweswe is not disillusioned by the huge gap that separates the two teams in terms of resources.
Leicester City was founded over a century ago in 1884 while Tsholotsho is less than five years old.
Leicester Citya��s annual budget runs into millions of dollars while the local outfit scrapes by on a meagre budget yet that has not stopped Sweswe from dreaming to achieve the impossible.
a�?Coaches the world over are inspired by the journey taken by Leicester City from fighting relegation last season to winning the title this time around. At Tsholotsho we might not necessarily win the local league but Leicestera��s story inspires us to finish in the top eight. Remember we were fighting relegation last season and for us to rub shoulders with the best teams in the top half of the league at the end of the season will be great,a�? said Sweswe.
Both teams are not big spenders in the transfer market with Leicester City turning little known players such as Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez into superstars.
The Iziqholo Zezhwane have their own in captain William Stima, scorer of two fantastic free kicks against
Highlanders and Chapungu as well as veteran Joel Luphahla who somehow surprised many this season by refusing to hang his boots.
a�?Just like Leicester City who kept the same players from last season, our team has not changed much from last year.
We can only believe in ourselves to scale to greater heights and we are confident of doing better this season. It would be great for us to produce our own Vardy from the crop of players we have in the squad,a�? he said.
Tsholotsho FC are sitting on 10th position with one win, a draw and two defeats and judging by their performances thus far the team might not find it hard to accomplish a top eight finish.
derick.khumalo