Eswatini coach attributes cup win to Sundowns, Pirates friendlies

Mbabane Highlanders’ South Africa-born coach Selatotse Mosala has attributed his team’s 2022 Bible Society Cup winning exploits over the weekend to lessons he gained from playing against Mamelodi Sundowns and Orlando Pirates.

The former Free State Stars assistant coach said this in a post-match interview with Swazi Times after Highlanders beat Manzini Wanderers 1-0, courtesy of Siwakhile Shongwe’s 63rd minute strike to win the cup at Mavuso Sports Centre on Saturday.

“We need to go back and have international friendly matches against big sides on the continent, as playing in Africa is tough,” he is quoted saying.

He, however, lamented their failure to convert scoring chances into goals was a general problem among all teams across the league in Eswatini.

Given his team’s upcoming domestic and international assignments, the coach said he might be tempted to scout for top strikers across the borders.

“It is worrying that we created a number of chances, but we failed to score. We can’t rely on one player to score for us. We need to find players that will help us score goals,” Mosala said.

 “If we need to solve this, we should go internationally for top quality strikers. We need players that will add value to the team, not just average players.”

Highlanders lost 6-0 to Pirates in the friendly played at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Northwest Province, where the Bucs’ new Cameroonian signing Eva Nga, formerly of Chippa United, grabbed a hat-trick on July 26 2022.

The DStv Premiership champions, Sundowns, also trounced Highlanders 5-0 at the same venue.

Such tough defeats did good to Highlanders, who went on to reach the final back home after dismissing Denver Sundowns 6-5 on post-match penalties after a 2-2 draw in regulation time.

The other semifinal saw Wanderers defeat rivals Moneni Pirates 3-0 to book their spot in the final.

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