Eswatini national Under 20 coach Mduduzi Nxumalo admits they will have it tough when they host this year’s COSAFA regional championship.
While Eswatini will be hoping to progress to the competition’s knockout stage for the first time in 20 years, Nxumalo warns it will be tough as most players are unavailable to prepare for the tournament due to school commitments.
Of course, there will be added motivation for the hosts as this year’s edition will be used as a qualifier for the AFCON Under 20 tournament in Egypt.
“We just started our preparations with the selections. You always wish to win the tournament when hosting it, but it’s difficult because the children are at school. They are only back Friday and Monday back to school.
“So it means we just train for two days on weekends, which is difficult. It’s a crucial time of the year for learners. We only have two who finished last year,” Nxumalo told FARPost.
Eswatini’s youth national team only went beyond the group stages in 2002, thanks to a 2-0 win over Zimbabwe in the only game in Group B.
That particular year, Madagascar had withdrawn from the competition, forcing the group to run as a two-team pool. With the top two sides advancing to the knockout stage, they booked a place in the last eight.
However, a 7-1 thumping sent them packing from the competition.
After that, the closest they came to repeating that knockout appearance was in 2019, as they earned six points in their pool.
Between 2004 and 2016, they did not win a match at the COSAFA Under 20 Championship.
After a meaningless 2-0 win over Botswana, the next time they won was in 2020, when they stunned Angola 1-0 win.
The best-ever finish for Eswatini was 37 years ago when they finished third as hosts.
This time around, Nxumalo would want to make it to the knockout stage on home soil. They were named the seeded team in Group A.
The hosts kick off their campaign on October 7 against Botswana’s Young Zebras. Their next assignment will be against heavyweights Zambia two days later, before they play Mauritius on October 11.
The two finalists at the COSAFA Qualifier will advance to the continental finals early next year, which are the qualifiers for the 2023 FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Indonesia.
