SIHLANGU head coach Harries ‘Madze’ Bulunga says they would appreciate if the PLS can release the respective national team players for two weeks before their encounter with Nigeria.
NaijaSportsxtra.blogspot.com gathered from a Swazi daily were he was quoted to have made the remarks during the ‘Letishisako Talk Show’ wherein he was interviewed by SBIS1 presenter Dumisani Magagula.
Bulunga said two weeks would be enough for the squad.
“I wish we can get two weeks full to prepare for the Nigeria match. We had only one week in camp before our match against Djibouti in the first leg and that was risky. It is good that we won but we need more time together as a team.” said Bulunga
He said he was aware that most teams were given one week to prepare for a match, but two weeks would do for them.
“I hope teams would agree to release their players in case we get the two weeks from FA and the PLS. I know there are a lot of factors that need to be considered, in as far as this matter is concerned but I hope teams will understand.” He said this would help the players focus and sharpen themselves for the match.
‘Madze’ said he was happy that they were also involved in
both the AFCON 2017 qualifiers and 2018 World Cup Qualifiers.
He said these tournaments kept the team active and gave the
players more time together.
“Featuring in these competitions has kept the team going and I am happy with the players’ response. The improvement you seeing with our national team is as a result of playing more games and gauging ourselves on how strong we are.” Asked on how the introduction of Under-20s league will contribute to the development of soccer in the country, Bulunga said FIFA supported the idea of developing players at grass-roots level so that when the move to elite league they were fully matured.
“The idea is working and we can see that PLS teams are now
fielding these young players, who were promoted from the
Under-20s League.’’
PLS Chief Operation Officer Petros Vilakati said they would
consider the coach’s plea when reached for comment yesterday.
“We will consider his plea when it officially reaches our offices. right now we do not have anything tangible from FA or any other stakeholder. PLS games are continuing as planned from now on.’’
