The Eswatini squad that will compete at the 2019 COSAFA Women’s Championship is in camp as they prepare for the regional showpiece even to be staged in Nelson Mandela Bay from July 31-August 11.
The side will be led by coach Anthony Mdluli, who has also overseen the senior men’s side in the recent past. The team started training at the country’s technical centre on Monday and will be hard at work in the build-up to the competition.
Mdluli has named 21 players for the camp, including many of those that competed last year.
Eswatini have been drawn in Group C at the regional championship and will take on Mozambique in their opener at the Wolfson Stadium on August 1.
They are up against Angola in their second match on August 3, before round out their pool play against Zimbabwe two days later. Eswatini featured in the early days of the COSAFA Women’s Championships and have been regulars ever since.
They claimed a 3-0 win over Botswana in their second match in 2002, but also lost out to Mozambique (0-2) and South Africa (0-4) to end third in their pool. They were back at the finals in 2016, but this time lost to Namibia (0-6) and Zambia (0-7) in what was a difficult campaign.
They skipped the 2011 tournament but returned for the 2017 finals in Zimbabwe, where a 3-0 win over Mauritius was followed by a 2-2 draw with Mozambique. They were denied a first ever place in the semifinals though after a 1-0 loss to East Africa guest nation Kenya.
In 2018 they suffered a narrow 4-3 defeat to East African guest nation Uganda in their first game, before going down 3-0 to Zimbabwe and 4-1 to Namibia.
The side has not been able to enter a team for the qualifiers for the Women’s World Cup and African Women’s Championships since the late 1990s.
ESWATINI SQUAD:
- Nokwanda Mamba
- Nokuthula Dlamini
- Nombuso Mamba
- Thulisile Dvuba
- Welile Ndwandwe
- Thandeka Mbhatha
- Lungile Dlamini
- Noxolo Malinga
- Mazwi Dube
- Tenanile Ngcamphalala
- Phumzile Dlamini
- Sikhanyiso Magagula
- Thulisile Thring
- Tibonile Dlamini
- Sibonelo Gwebu
- Nomvula Sanga
- Buhle Mdluli
- Futhi Dlamini
- Sibongile Khumalo
- Nondumiso Matsenjwa
- Cebile Shongwe
