Bafana Bafana face Mambas in COSAFA Cup opener

Bafana Bafana: Photo Credit: COSAFA media.

The Council for Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA) Cup gets underway on Wednesday, June 4, with hosts South Africa opening the floor against neighbours, Mozambique.

Bafana Bafana welcome the Mambas to Toyota Stadium in Mangaung, Bloemfontein, at 15:00 CAT (13:00 GMT) for a Group A clash that kicks off the tournament, which runs until June 14.

This marks the beginning of the tournament involving 14 Southern African senior national teams split into four groups—two comprising four sides each, while two pools have three.

Ahead of the match, South Africa B team coach, Vela Khumalo, told COSAFA media that Mozambique will be a closed book to him.

“We are playing against Mozambique, and we don’t know much about them, but it’s all about how we want to express ourselves when playing at home. We need to show that we are playing at home, we promise to play good football, but most importantly, we need to win the game,” Khumalo said.

“I am very happy with the squad, and the players in the camp have shown great determination to succeed. I’m happy with the players because they look sharp.

“I was not expecting them to look as sharp as they do, as they have been in recess for two weeks (since the end of the season). But we are in good shape and in a good space as we look forward to the next session.”

Mambas coach Chiquinho Conde has since urged his players to show commitment and play with character.

“We always want to play to win,” he said.

Group A action continues with six-time champions Zimbabwe facing Mauritius at 18:00 CAT (16:00 GMT) at the same venue.

The Warriors have not won the cup since 2018, while the islanders hope to improve their record of failing to get through the group stage.

Day two of the competition on Thursday, June 5 sees Malawi meet Lesotho in Group B at 15:00 CAT / 13:00 GMT). This will be followed by Angola’s clash against Namibia at 18:00 CAT / 16:00 GMT.

The Brave Warriors go into the match hoping to atone for the 5-0 loss they suffered to the Palancas Negras in last year’s final.

COSAFA media says the first game in the three-team Group D will see record seven-time winners Zambia entertaining Comoros (18:00 CAT / 16:00 GMT) on Friday.

All matches are live on FIFA+.

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GROUP A: South Africa, Mozambique, Mauritius, Zimbabwe

GROUP B: Angola, Namibia, Malawi, Lesotho

GROUP C: Tanzania, Madagascar, Eswatini

GROUP D: Zambia, Comoros, Botswana