The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Swazis

  • JANUARY 2016 FIFA-FREE WINDOW: Swazis woo Eagles for friendly

    JANUARY 2016 FIFA-FREE WINDOW: Swazis woo Eagles for friendly

    Against the backdrop of report credited to Super Eagles’ head coach, Sunday Oliseh who disclosed that Sihlangu Semnikati of Swaziland gave his team a tough fight and would love to engage the side in a friendly match in the future, Harris Bulunga who led the Southern African nation to Nigeria has welcomed another challenge game.

    Bulunga in an exclusive chat with SportingLife yesterday from Swaziland stated that they would jump at the offer to face any of the top nations on the continent and that they won’t have a second thought if Nigeria’s senior national team makes concrete offer to tackle them.

    Oliseh had during the post-match interview with journalists in Port Harcourt’s Adokie Amiesimaka Stadium praised the Sihlangu Semnikati for their resilience and determination while adding that they are a side he would like to face in the future in a friendly match.

    Bulunga while reacting to Oliseh’s complimentary remarks accepted the Eagles’ challenge and also added that the King’s Shield were treated to wonderful reception on their return to Lobamba and that some institutions donated cash to the team to appreciate their impressive display against mighty Eagles even though they eventually lost.

    Swazi coach still insisted that the result would have been different had they played with four of their players who missed the tie due to injuries and that they have started building on their outing with the Nigeria’s national team.

    “Eagles’ coach said they would like to face us in the future and I want to say that we will be willing to play all top teams in Africa and Nigeria is part of those list. We will be happy to play Nigeria anywhere if the friendly match is made concrete. We were happy with our display against the Eagles and even though we lost, we went out with our heads high.

    “We have started to build on the way we played against the Eagles and we are hoping that our performance can be more consistent in the AFCON qualifiers so that we will be able to play in 2017 AFCON. We are not taken our two matches with the Brave Warriors of Zimbabwe lightly at all. We know those matches will define if we will play at AFCON or not,” Bulunga told SportingLife.

    He disc;osed that the Swazi Football Federation has promised to give the senior national team the necessary support to ensure that the team qualifies for the 2017 AFCON as they presently top Group L with four points from two matches.

    Bulunga said that their double header with Zimbabwe next March would define their place in the Group and that they won’t like to joke with those two matches.

    SportingLife recalls that Swaziland senior national team lost 2-0 on aggregate to the Eagles in the Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier played last week.

  • OLISEH TO EAGLES: Show no mercy to Swazis

    OLISEH TO EAGLES: Show no mercy to Swazis

    • Players perfect penalty kicks

    Coach how has training been going?

    Very well, thank you.

    On Saturday, we had our first training session (at the Shell Residential Area) but it was just a light one. The first real session we had was on Sunday (at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium). So far, I have been impressed with the boys and the intensity of training. Hopefully, we will get the win that we will be gunning for today.

     

    Most Nigerians expected a win on Friday in the first leg. Why was that result not achieved?

    It was a game that we went all out to win. Unfortunately, we didn’t get that but we thank God that at least we have made everything open for ourselves to just win on Tuesday and qualify.

    We want to qualify and we will be going all out to win (on Tuesday).

     

    What is the situation with Rabiu Ibrahim. He did not train on Sunday.

    Has he been ruled out of Tuesday’s game?

    Yes, he has been ruled out…..he will not play. Rabiu got onto the pitch and unfortunately hurt his knee after a few minutes. He felt some pain and I thought it wise to substitute him.

    Ordinarily, he would have finished the game. It was saddening because it destabilised our (final) push. We wanted to win the game.

     

    You drilled the boys on penalties during your last training session. Are you expecting Tuesday’s game to go right down to the wire?

    As a coach, you have to be prepared for every possible scenario and penalties are one of them. We hope to finish things off but if penalties are required, we will be prepared.

    What’s the situation with your health right now after the scare the last time around?

    The doctors have me on a regime and right now all I do is work (with the team) and sit in my room but I am steadily getting better.

     

    Any message to the fans in Port Harcourt ahead of the big game on Tuesday?

    We want to thank Port Harcourt fans for their support to the team in the past.

    They have always been here for us and gave us massive support, even during our CHAN qualifier against Burkina Faso.

    It was a similar story when the full Super Eagles team faced Niger Republic in an international friendly against Niger Republic.

     

    Thanks for your time, coach

    Any time.

  • BATTLE OF PORT HARCOURT: Swazis target score draw result

    BATTLE OF PORT HARCOURT: Swazis target score draw result

    Swaziland coach Harris Bulunga is optimistic that his less experienced but determined players can upset Nigeria with a score draw result on Tuesday in Port Harcourt to shock the World and move on to the Third Round of the FIFA 2018 World Cup qualification group.

    Bulunga informed  exclusively in a post-match conference in Lobamba when he stated that: “It’s going to be a tough away game with different conditions but we got a very good away record. So, that is what is giving us hope.”

    The coach was impressed with the first leg’s barren draw result pointing out that: “Well, I think my boys applied themselves very well. Our defensive organisation was superb, we limited the Super Eagles to almost no chances. The only chance they got was only from a set piece. That was the only save the goalkeeper made.

    “So, defensively, we were okay but my players were not sharp enough going forward. And it’s going to be tough going away because we couldn’t score but we still believe.”

    Interestingly, Coach Harris revealed that they were surprised that the much more experienced Nigerians hesitated from the start and this gave them the confidence they needed in the first leg tie.

    “Yes, of course we were playing at home, the first half we wanted to see how they came to meet us but we discovered that  they were not that aggressive. So, we decided to take the game to them because we are at home and we need to score at least a goal that we can take to Nigeria. But unfortunately we couldn’t utilise the situation we got. But I still believe the boys played well despite the goalless  scoreline.

    “It is not about them in their home because a score draw can put us through. But we are going there to work hard as we did today. The result will take care of itself. If the players who got some knocks and had to be substituted will be available, then I will give my team a 40 per cent chance of getting an upset result in Nigeria.”

  • Swazis get 516 Euros for Eagles’ draw

    An anonymous individual donated 8,000 Swazi Lilangeni ( equivalent of 516.33 euros) to the Swaziland National Team as an incentive following their goalless draw with Nigeria in the World Cup second qualifying round, first leg tie on Friday night.

    According to Swazi Observer, the money will be handed to the players when they return to Swaziland on November 19.

    The newspaper added that the Minister of Sports has decided not to reveal the identity of the donor until the squad returns to the country.

    A farewell function was held at National Football Association of Swaziland (NFAS) Technical Centre on Saturday before the delegation jetted out to Lagos.