By Williams Gondwa:
The draw for the 2019 men’s senior Cosafa Cup is scheduled for Thursday in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The competition, which will take place in Durban, South Africa, was a big doubt after Zimbabwe pulled out of hosting it last month.
Council of Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa) Vice General Secretary, Suzgo Nyirenda, said the draw would involve 12 teams which confirmed their participation in the regional tournament.
“The draw will take place at Cosafa House in Johannesburg and will be live on SuperSport. I can confidently state that 12 countries have confirmed their participation in this year’s tournament.
“We are also pleased to welcome Comoros, who are joining us for the first time. We gave our associations a deadline of April 26 to confirm their participation and all is set now,” Nyirenda said.
He said Cosafa was relieved after South Africa stepped in to ensure that this year’s competition takes place.
“We were in the dark because we had nowhere to go. Zimbabwe’s failure put us in an awkward position but relief came when South Africa committed to host the competition. We are thankful and expect to have a grand draw,” Nyirenda said.
Malawi national football team Coach, Meke Mwase, said Cosafa Cup was the right platform for developing players.
“My team is in good shape and I have no doubt that this year we will do better. The competition gives a platform to young players to showcase their talent. In our case, there are several young players who need this stage to shine,” Mwase said.
Zimbabwe won last year’s competition which saw Malawi failing to go beyond the group stages.
The Flames were in the same group as Mauritius, Angola and Botswana.
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