The Sunday Mail
Online Reporter
The Warriors have been drawn against the Teranga Lions of Senegal in the COSAFA Cup senior men’s soccer tournament set for Nelson Mandela Bay, Port Elizabeth, in South Africa from July 7 to July 18.
In what has been already termed the Group of Death, the six-time COSAFA Cup winners, Zimbabwe, will also square off with Mozambique and Namibia.
The rare showdown between the Warriors against West African giants Senegal is easily the pick of the group games.
Senegal are featuring at the competition for the first time as a guest nation, while COSAFA nations Seychelles and Mauritius will be missing.
Zdravko “Loga’’ Logarisic’s men were drawn against Senegal on Thursday.
Hosts South Africa, whom Zimbabwe will face later in the World Cup qualifiers in September, also have an intriguing group that includes neighbours Lesotho, Botswana and Eswatini.
Bafana Bafana and Botswana have long been foes in the regional competition.
Defending champions Zambia will face Malawi and the island nations pair of Madagascar and Comoros in their first-round pool.
The top team in each group and the best-placed runner-up will advance to the semi-finals in what is a change in format to the tournament.
That means each side is guaranteed three games up to a maximum of five, which will provide vital preparation for those national teams involved in 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers later this year.
The COSAFA Cup senior men’s competition is making a comeback after the event was cancelled in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It will be hosted in Nelson Mandela Bay for the first time, which has been a familiar home for other COSAFA competitions in recent years, particularly the Women’s tournaments.
2021 COSAFA CUP DRAW:
GROUP A: South Africa, Lesotho, Eswatini, Botswana
GROUP B: Zambia, Malawi, Madagascar, Comoros
GROUP C: Senegal, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia
