Letaï¿½ï¿½s hope Sihlangu earns our respect as competent opponents

Noel Munzabwa
THE Good Friday 1-1 2017 AFCON Group L qualifier between Zimbabwe and Swaziland drew lots of criticism of our coach Kallisto Pasuwa with little or no positive acknowledgment of Sihlanguaï¿½ï¿½s growing prowess in the game.

That Sihlangu had beaten mighty Guinea 2-1 in a Group L was swept away by the exuberant tide of antagonism with Pasuwa labelled aï¿½?bond coinaï¿½? with no bargain power outside the boundaries of the nation.

That he had won 2-1 in Malawi against all odds and the weight of the height of poor preparations and administrative problems was all replaced with aï¿½?hopeless and technical minoraï¿½? in the game that gave him four consecutive league gold medals.

We indeed failed to acknowledge the very fact that Harries Madze Bulunga has transformed Swaziland into a aï¿½?team to beataï¿½? creating Somhlolo National Stadium into their super fortress.

We even forgot that ever since Madze took over from Belgian Valerie Billen, Sihlangu has only lost on the road to Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Angola before eventually falling with a thud at our own fortress National Sports Stadium.

Enter the COSAFA regional soccer showcase, Sihlangu has been trending with superb shows that has won them recognition as a force in the game making them a headline national football team.

Ahead of Wednesdayaï¿½ï¿½s semi final match against South Africa, Swaziland were enjoying theirAï¿½ longest unbeaten run in the Cosafa Cup with head coach Bulunga yet to taste defeat in the competition.

Sihlangu are unbeaten in all seven of Bulungaaï¿½ï¿½s Cosafa Cup matches in charge, going back to last yearaï¿½ï¿½s tournament.

Bafana Bafanaaï¿½ï¿½s semi-final opponents on Wednesday left the 2015 edition unbeaten, having picked up two wins and one draw only to be eliminated by Madagascar on goal difference.

They therefore were, along with eventual winners Namibia, the only side to leave last yearaï¿½ï¿½s edition unbeaten.

Namibia were eliminated by Botswana on penalties on Saturday while Swaziland stretched their unbeaten run by beating Zambia 4-2 on penalties on Sunday. That made it five wins from those seven games, with the other two ending up as draws.

They were seeking to remain unbeaten and draw closer to the record Cosafa unbeaten run held by South Africa who went for 14 matches without defeat.

The trio of Angola, Zambia and Zimbabwe are joint second with 11 matches unbeaten with the Warriors 10 matches unbeaten run completing the top five.

Madze probably holds the individual coachaï¿½ï¿½s best unbeaten run record in the Cosafa.

Sihlangu were looking to reach their first ever Cosafa Cup final when they play three-time winners South Africa on Wednesday evening at the Sam Nujoma Stadium in Namibia.

And yet the Pasuwa critiques have turned Sihlangu praise singers and one wonders when the criticism opinions turned in just three months.

Suddenly today Swaziland are a compact outfit worth winning the Cosafa. Have they really earned our genuine respect or it is out of Warriors knock out frustration that we have turned to sympathise with Sihlangu?

It is indeed a thin line between love and hate.

But facts donaï¿½ï¿½t lie despite the game being semi professional towards professionalism, unlike in Zimbabwe there has been marked investment in Swaziland.

And the least we can do is to give credit where it is due and one wonders how much more change Madze would have put into Sihlangu had he not been shuttling between Somhlolo National Stadium and Mater Dolorosa High School, his work station.

This is a science teacher who during the camp days, dashes to conduct assembly before joining Sihlangu at 9am for two hours before rushing back to the classroom to conduct his science lessons.

Today I truly hope many believe that Good Friday 1-1 draw was technically genuine.