A mandate with no room for failure is what Mbabane Highlanders AM coach Floyd ‘Mourinho’ Mogale has in his hands.
His is simple but tough – to take the capital city giants to the TotalEnergies CAF Champions League.
However, you do not just get to play in the Champions League; you must be the league champions. 
For Mogale, he must lead Highlanders to their first league title in over two decades; that is the only path to the CAF interclub tournament.
He has already seen two points dropped in their opening MTN Premier League 2026/27 match against Green Mamba.
Highlanders AM played to a goalless draw at Somhlolo National Stadium in Lobamba on Saturday.
“Getting a point is better than nothing.
Green Mamba are a good and tough opponent, so it’s a good result. Yes, we wanted to win, but our top striker is out injured, and we struggled with the new guy also just coming in.
“It’s still too early as we just came from the preseason tournament, then our first league game now. We’ll get better as we are about the league title.
I don’t believe that I’m ready to leave because I would have failed on my mandate,” said Mogale.
The coach said he would be ready to just pack his bags. Mogale also lamented the lack of goals despite getting some chances to score.
“With our top goalscorer out with an injury, we struggled in front of goal, but we’ll have to work on combinations with the new players as well,” he said as he referred to debutant forward Bhekani Mthembu among others.
Meanwhile, his fellow South African coach Selaotse ‘Sly’ Mosala of Moneni Pirates is also going for the title.
“It starts with beating the best, and when we can beat the defending champions, then we can believe we are in the running for it,” he responded to a media question in a post-match interview.
Mosala said he was yet to have his full squad 100 per cent available, but he was already positive about the project.
This was soon after Moneni edged Nsingizini Hotspurs 1-0 in the MTN Premier League 2026/27 grand opening fixture at Somhlolo National Stadium in Lobamba on Saturday.
His Nsingizini counterpart, Mandla Qhogi, yet another South African, also affirmed his unchanged mandate.
“We missed chances, but I must also give credit to Moneni. It was a good game, but perhaps luck was not on our side.
“I believe we are on course and will defend our title. It’s just working on the forwards as converting seems to be our weakness,” he said.
Qhogi said they were certainly going to have yet another good season as they aim for a third consecutive CAF Champions League experience.
His team lost 1-0 after conceding late in the match to Senanelo Nkambule, the heartbreaker.
