By Ntokozo Magongo
MBABANE – After their dismal ending of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Qualifiers, the National team, Sihlangu will be back in action between December 20 and 22, 2024 against Madagascar in the second round of the African Nations Championships.
The second leg fixture will be played a week later between December 27 and 29. This means there won’t be any Christmas holidays for the Sihlangu players. The winner between the two sides will then qualify for the tournament that exclusively features players from domestic league across Africa.
Sihlangu had a bad ending in the AFCON Qualifiers as they lost 0-6 to Mali in the last match of Group I on Tuesday evening away in Mali. They finished bottom of the group with two points.
Sihlangu that is currently under the guidance of Assistant Coach Sifiso ‘Nuro’ Ntibane reached the second round of the CHAN Qualifiers after eliminating Zimbabwe 4-1 aggregate while led by Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL) Coach Zdravko Logurusic.
According to the cafonline.com, the tournament to be played between February 1 to 28 will be jointly be hosted by three countries being Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Madagascar also failed to qualify for the Africa Cup of Nations as they finished last in their Group A were they were against Comoros, Tunisia and Gambia. They finished last in the group with two points, same as Sihlangu.
They were drawn in the second round by being ranked better over Sihlangu and Zimbabwe.
Some of the Southern African countries that will also be in action in the CHAN second round fixtures will see Lesotho facing Angola while Mozambique will be up against Zambia.
