Amost three years after a nasty fallout, Croatian coach Zdravko "Loga" Logarusic is leaving no stone unturned ahead of the battle with his former paymasters Zimbabwe in the upcoming 2025 Africa Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers.
Logarusic, who had a rather forgettable stint as the Warriors coach in 2021, is now in charge of Eswatini, who face Zimbabwe in the two-legged first round of the qualifiers.
The Warriors will host Sihlangu at the Obed Itani Chilume Stadium in Francistown on Sunday since the country does not have a CAF-approved venue for international football. Just like Zimbabwe, Eswatini are also without any CAF-approved facility.
This means the Warriors will then travel for the return leg a few days later in South Africa where Eswatini, have adopted Mbombela Stadium in Mpumalanga province since 2019.
In the build-up to the game, Logarusic, has picked 25 of the best-performing players in the Eswatini Premier League, which began a few weeks ago.
His team reported for camp on Monday after round five of the league games, which ended at the weekend.
Logarusic told journalists in Eswatini that he was looking beyond the first-round clash with Zimbabwe, to atone for the poor run by his team since his appointment at the end of August.
Under his watch, Eswatini are winless after losing three matches and drawing one in the four 2025 AFCON qualifying games they have played in Group I.
They have been eliminated from the qualifying matrix as a result. But Loga now believes CHAN, a second-tier competition exclusive to players in the domestic leagues around the continent, could offer an escape.
"We stand a better chance to qualify for CHAN than the other competitions," he told journalists.
He is aiming to collect points from Zimbabwe and advance to the next qualifying round where the winners will face Madagascar in the final qualifying tie.
"Our focus is on the Zimbabwe match, and we will do our best to get positive results.
"I believe in the boys, and I am confident that they will recover on time for the trip to Zimbabwe since the players will be involved in the MTN Premier League," said Logarusic.
Eswatini uses virtually the same players for all competitions including the AFCON and World Cup qualifiers.
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Announcing the squad headlined by the returning striker, Sabelo "Sikhali" Ndzinisa, the Croat said due to the tight schedule the players were exposed to in the past months, he will only focus on tactical and recovery sessions during the three-day training.
"We have played many tough games. We played seven matches in 27 days, which is very tough for the boys. It was like playing a game in three and a half days," Logarusic said. His tenure as Eswatini's coach began with back-to-back 0-1 defeats to Guinea Bissau away and Mali at home in his first two 2025 AFCON qualifying matches.
This was followed by a 1-1 draw with Mozambique away in Maputo before capitulating to a 0-3 defeat in their home game at Mbombela. The Croatian previously coached the Warriors under the Felton Kamambo tenure and had probably the worst record by a Warriors coach after presiding over 14 matches and winning only one while drawing five and losing eight matches. After his long overdue dismissal by ZIFA, Logarusic went on to coach club football in Saudi Arabia and Kenya before landing in Eswatini.
His team needs to quickly recover from the 0-3 mauling by Mozambique in the AFCON qualifiers.
