Noel Munzabwa
SWAZILANDa��S influential captain Tony Thulani Tsabedze might have a three minutes warmly received appearance at the dearth of the SwaziBank Sidlala Kanje Cup final but on the flip side could have let Harries Madze Bulungaa��s cat out of the bag.
It would seem Bulunga is eyeing maximum points from the Easter holidays six pointer back to back 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against the Warriors and will try as many tricks in the books.
Named as one of the five standby players, Tsabedze was among the 16 Sihlangu players that warmed a cold Somhlolo National Stadium on Sunday afternoon as Mbabane Swallows beat Royal Leopard 2-0.
This was Tsabedzea��s first action in three months courtesy of a lengthy injury lay-off raising questions on the genuineness of the so-called gang of five standby players.
Coincidentally, one of the players among the five, Banele Sikhondze capped a fine afternoon with his 25th minute opener and could have easily bagged the man of the match award.
And yet Bulunga made them a�?other optionsa�?. No ways this is definitely a cheap mind game not worth a penny and the Warriors coach should not be easily moved by such.
Could he truly afford to throw his crowd favourite on the terraces when the real battle is on the field?
Ita��s pretty clear Sihlangu, who got an 8,4 million emalangeni ($550 000) vote from the next national fiscal year budget, are trying everything possible to safeguard their group lead jealously.
This includes a fully fledged training camp which got under way on Monday and they were busy courting Lesotho for a preparatory friendly match earmarked for this Saturday.
However, it would seem the Zimbabwe camp is not reading much into the mind games and pretty know only numbers on the terraces are capable of turning the tide.
There are indications made by Zifa sponsor and businessman Wicknell Chivhayo to charter a flight to ferry soccer fans into Lobamba.
Plan B could see the hiring of at least four buses a�� which could even see a higher number of representation on the terraces backed by an expected good response from Swazi resident 10 000 strong Zimbabweans.
Meanwhile, Swazilanda��s only foreign based player, DRCa��s AS Vita Cluba��s ace striker, Mthunzi Mkhontfo was expected to join his teammates this week.
