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| Lesotho starts it 2018 COSAFA Cup in the quarterfinals against Swaziland... |
Southern
Africa’s national teams will converge on Polokwane in the north of South Africa
over the next two weeks to decide this year’s COSAFA Cup champion.
In total 14
countries will battle it out at the regional championship which is again
expected to be a tightly contested affair.
Zimbabwe, who
came through a gruelling schedule last year to win the tournament for a record
fifth time, begin the defence of their title in the quarterfinals and are
expected to be challenged closely by hosts South Africa and Zambia, who have
both won the COSAFA Cup on four previous occasions.
The COSAFA Cup
starts with eight teams divided into two groups for the opening week of
competition with the two group winners then advancing to the knockout stage
where they are joined by the top six ranked nations.
The tournament
will kick-off on Sunday with a Group A clash between Madagascar and Mozambique,
who have both threatened to upset the odds at recent tournaments, before an
island derby between the Comoros Islands and Seychelles.
Angola, who
have won the competitions three times, head a strong field in Group B where
they must get past Botswana and Malawi, both previous runners-ups, and
Mauritius.
The schedule
is taxing one for the eight first round competitors who play a game every
second day with only the group winner advancing.
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| The tournament starts on Sunday with a clash between Mozambique and Madagascar |
There are two
matches scheduled for every day from Sunday through to next Friday in the first
round with the games played at both the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in the centre
of Polokwane and the Seshego Stadium, on the outskirts of the city.
The winner of
Group A has been drawn against South Africa in the quarter-finals on next week
Sunday (June 3) while Group B’s winner will take on Zimbabwe later on the same
day. Before that the first two quarterfinals
will take place next Saturday (June 2). They will see Zambia face the 2015
winners Namibia followed by Lesotho taking on Swaziland.
It is the
first time in 10 years that all 14-member nations are competing as the Comoros
return to the field for the first time in 2008.
“Looking at
the squads selected, this promises to be a very tough competition,” said Timothy
Shongwe, COSAFA’s chairman of competitions.
“The countries
are all coming with top teams and it is difficult to see who is going to come
out on top.”
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