With the 2024/25 continental football season set to get underway this weekend, a certain African club has insisted they are well prepared for their CAF assignment against a team from South Africa.
Both the CAF Champions League and CAF Confederation Cup get underway this weekend, with four South African teams taking part in the competitions, namely Mamelodi Sundowns, Orlando Pirates, Sekhukhune United, and Stellenbosch FC.
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The latter two sides will be contesting for the Confederation Cup crown, with the Western Cape club set to make their first-ever appearance in CAF competitions when they take on Nsingizini Hotspurs at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban on Saturday, in the first preliminary round of the tournament.
The Eswatini outfit spent part of their pre-season training in South Africa, with their visit to KwaZulu-Natal last month being part of their partnership with Betway Premiership side AmaZulu FC.
With the fixture between Stellenbosch and Hotspurs just around the corner, the team nicknamed 'Insingizi Yezulu' has now revealed that they are in good shape to deal with the task at hand in Mzansi.
According to the Eswatini Observer, Hotspurs public relations officer Mnotfo Dlamini said the team's primary goal is to reach the next stage.
"For sure, you would have watched the games we played in South Africa. We tried to compress the games because the CAF games will require the same amount of energy. The coach was trying to force the players to play a good amount of minutes and I think the team is ready.
"I can safely say that we have done all the preparations for our CAF assignment. The series of pre-season friendly matches outside the country have helped us a lot and we were able to observe our strength and weaknesses while at the same time gauging the team's readiness.
"... We encourage fans to come and support us. The players are always motivated to work hard inside the field of play when they see fans in their numbers."
Although the match will take place in Durban, Hotspurs will be the "home team" due to eSwatini's lack of CAF-standard venues.
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Hotspurs' meeting against Steve Barker's Stellies comes not long after they took on Richards Bay and Maritzburg United during their pre-season camp in South Africa.