We are approaching that time of the year when African teams will be battling it out in continental encounters. There is so much at stake in continental competitions. It may not necessarily be the prize money, but it has more to do with patriotism, or national pride.

With the standard of football having drastically dropped in Swaziland, it is no shame to say that not much is expected from our only hope, Mbabane Swallows. The team will face South African giants, Orlando Pirates in the CAF MTN Champions League. It is a tall order for Swallows and there is no way to skirt around the fact that they are undergoing a lean spell. And by the look of things, there is a lot to do within the short of space of time that is left before the two meet in the said encounter.

Looking back, it is no secret that the most successful team in African tournaments in the country is Mbabane Highlanders. It is the only team that went as far as the quarter-finals of the continental assignment. It was in the late 80s that Mbabane Highlanders faced Nationals of Egypt in the quarter-finals of the Africa Cup. The first round was played in Cairo Egypt, with Highlanders routed heavily by the towering Egyptian led by the then mercurial mid-fielder, Magdi Abdel-Ghani. The return match was played at Swaziland's own Mecca of football, Somhlolo National stadium. Highlanders lost 2-0 with dignity. Players that shone there were goalkeeper Hezekiel Silenge, the late Kaizer ‘KK' Zini, Puma Kunene, Obed ‘Foreman' Mlotsa, Makhambane Fakudze just to mention a few.

Most teams did not make it further than the elimination stages and that was the end of the road for Swazi teams, to date. None of them have reached further than the quarter-final stage. Having said that, there was a match played between Mhlume Peacemakers and one team from Madagascar. The former lost the match with a 6-1 margin. Although Peacemakers lost the match, they displayed the finest football artistry that left spectators asking for more.

Another match was played between Mbabane Highlanders (again) and Athletic Club Sotema of Madagascar. It was a brilliant match indeed. There was one winger from Madagascar who had terrifying speed, wearing jersey number eight. He outpaced one of the fastest full-backs in the country and that was none other than Elwell ‘Cutter' Mamba.

What happened that day is that the locals ended up cheering on the visitors because of the way they displayed their skills, especially the speed. The pace of those players was a marvel to watch because all that they had come to do in Swaziland was to score goals and more of them. That is exactly what they did.

There was an interesting development that took place during preparations for Africa Cup games. Local teams would borrow selected players from other teams in the big league. However, as things progressed, those players would end up being recruited to play for those teams. For example, Mbabane Swallows borrowed ‘Pele' Mncina from Mhlume Peacemakers. That was the end of ‘Pele' and Peacemakers. Phumuza ‘El Khatib' Ntshangase had been borrowed by Mbabane Highlanders from Kwaluseni Rebels. He never went back to Rebels and remained with Highlanders until he retired from active football. What can be said is that Mbabane Highlanders had the buying power and influence. Influential people pitched their tents with Mbabane Highlanders and that made things for Highlanders to acquire any player they wanted. Another interesting thing is that Highlanders never recruited small-time players. For example, they recruited Gebi Zwane from Mhlume Highlanders, who was at his peak. They did the same with Nichodemus ‘Ace' Mashwama. He was bulging the net with goals at Mhlume Highlanders and was recruited to join the Mbabane lads. He fitted like a hand in a glove. It was due to a high level of discipline. Today's players have totally lost discipline. They drink too much, skip training and engage in sex with a legion of whores around town. They also put too much emphasis on money than to play and enjoy the game, develop themselves as players and entertain themselves too. Most of them change teams more often than they should-all because of money.

It can be explained that the reason why Highlanders feature more than most teams in this article is the fact that they are the only team from Swaziland that did better than all local sides.

For example, Highlanders had been pitted against a team from Rwanda. They went there for the first leg and lost the match with four goals to nothing in Rwanda. In the return match, Highlanders came back firing from all cylinders. They dazzled the Rwandans and drubbed them 3-0. They lost the match 4-3 on aggregate.The equalising goal was disallowed for an offside. When the referee blew the final whistle, the Rwandans thanked their gods for pulling them from the claws of a tiger. It was an exciting match. Meanwhile, Manzini Wanderers did not do well in continental games.

They once played against Lesotho Defence Force and got confused in the first five minutes of the game. Obviously, they lost the match 5-0 and those who were watching only consoled themselves with drinking marula brew that was flowing at the stadium. Other teams that featured in the Africa Cup were Mbabane Swallows, Bulembu Young Aces, Mhlume Peacemakers (defunct), Eleven Men in Flight, Denver Sundowns and the defunct C&M Sales. However, none of them reached further than the opening stages.

This illustrates the challenges that we have always had as a country concerning football. Players like Ronnie ‘Valiant' Dube who had a brilliant spell with Denver Sundowns and Mbabane Swallows represented the country well. Ronnie, Abel ‘Chacklas' Shongwe, William ‘Cool Cat' Shongwe, Absalom ‘Scara' Thindwa, Wilfred ‘Maria Maria' Fakudze, Dumsani ‘DU' Mhlongo were a few of the Swazi players that were recruited to play for top South African sides like Kaizer Chiefs, Moroka Swallows and Orlando Pirates. It would be interesting, though, to see how Swallows would fare this time around. However, with the prevailing circumstances, hope is lost. There is no hope, unless some miracle happens.

Many people have already written the ‘Beautiful Birds' out of this assignment but we must all remember that football is a dicey game in which you can expect any result.

The team is expected to start serious technical preparations. It is envisaged that the return of no-nonsense coach Zenzele ‘Ace' Dlamini will help Swallows see direction in the preparations.

Swallows and ‘Ace' do understand each other. That is why Ace took Swallows from the edge of the relegation pool and led the to league honours last season.

With the launch of the various income-generating projects through selling of the club's newly-launched apparel, it would be easy to generate revenue through sound team marketing strategies.

Swallows' first tall order will come February 19-21. The club is now left with limited time to facilitate serious and effective preparations.Unless something is done NOW, it will be difficult to match the professional South African giants who won the gold star for bringing home the gold medal in continental games.

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