Former Eswatini international William Shongwe has revealed that Mbabane Swallows knew even before their CAF Champions League second preliminary round first-leg match against Mamelodi Sundowns that they stood no chance of winning.
The Eswatini side were hammered 4-0 by the 2016 champions of the competition in a home match for the visitors that they chose to host at the Lucas Moripe Stadium on Saturday, due to the unavailability of pitches that meet CAF standards in the neighbouring country.
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Shongwe, who plied his trade at Kaizer Chiefs during his heyday, says the fact that this will be the Brazilians' 10th consecutive group stage qualification says a lot about the difference in quality between the two outfits.
"The scoreline alone tells a story that they were no match for Sundowns," declares Shongwe, speaking to KickOff.
"I visited Mbabane Swallows on Friday, they were doing their morning session at Tuks, where they were training, and the coach did his best to help his players in terms of mental preparations, but it was always going to be obvious where the result was gonna go.
"It was always a given that they were gonna lose against Sundowns, but what they didn't do well on Saturday is to fight hard to minimize the score line.
"I think that was the talk, that: 'Guys, whatever we do, let's just not embarrass ourselves'.
"Unfortunately, Sundowns were just too much for them.
"I mean, the standard is different. How many years have Sundowns been playing at this level? This is the higher platform for anybody that is trying to get in," adds 'Cool Cat', as he is affectionately known.
Shongwe says Sundowns' standard is that of the likes of teams from Morocco, Egypt and certain teams from West Africa.
"So, they are operating at a very high level, which is a bit higher than that of Eswatini.
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"The levels are different. There's a lot that differs if you are on the field of play. If you keep defending for a longer period, you will get tired, but here that wasn't the case. Sundowns were just superior."
This weekend, the Tshwane giants will host Swallows at the same Lucas Moripe Stadium in the second leg of the second preliminary round.