Swaziland sense upset against Black Stars
Swazi King rallies nation against Stars
Posted: 2010-09-05 07:50
Swaziland are hoping the trend of shocks in the 2010 Nations Cup qualifiers will continue on Sunday as they bid for arguably the biggest scalp with victory over Ghana.
The southern African mountain kingdom is in high spirit ahead of their meeting against Ghana, with locals predicting they will nick the three points with a 2-0 victory.
And their confidence would have been helped by a Saturday when teams thought to have no chance in the qualifiers stomped out some incredible results.
Malawi drew 2-2 in Tunis. Algeria failed to beat Tanzania at home forcing their coach Raber Saddaane to quit in the process. Botswana continued their fine run with victory over Togo, while Uganda thrashed 2010 Nations Cup hosts and quarter finalists Angloa 3-0. Elsewhere, Cape Verde claimed a major scalp when they beat Mali 1-0.
But a Swaziland victory over Ghana will top them all. The Kingdom has not appeared at the Nations Cup before and are hoping to get their present campaign off to a flyer.
They are also drawing inspiration from Ghana’s own fine run at the 2010 World Cup, insisting that once the Black Stars came from nowhere to shock the world, so can they shock Ghana.
In a rousing article in the Weekend Observer, ‘Miracles Only Happen at Somholo’ journalist Bodwa Mbingo reckoned the Swazi team known as Sihlangu Semnikati or the King’s Spears can pull a surprise.
He said: “Ghana was able to beat feared countries during the world cup and surprised a whole lot of soccer followers in the world by their impressive performance and that is exactly what is expected from the His Majesty’s troops on Sunday.”
His Majesty King Mswathi III has said he will be at the Somholo Stadium to cheer the players and has urged the players to ‘seize the chance to shine and be counted among the best in the world’.
CLICK HERE for the Afcon qualifying results fixtures and tables.
: 2010-09-05 13:51
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