Coaches grateful for Cosafa Cup

The expression ‘you are all winners’ rings true for the Cosafa Cup tournament.

While the tournament victor will be rightly heralded for their all conquering exploits on Sunday, the rest of the nations will learn from their shortcomings and be better for it.

This is the overriding feeling from several of the teams at this year’s competition in Durban, South Africa, which delivered two weeks of thrilling action.

After toiling for years, Malawi reached the semi-finals for the first time in nearly two decades. They did so with a 100% record from Group B, notably beating 2022 champions Zambia in their opening clash.

Their improvement is down to the Cosafa Cup tournament, head coach Patrick Mabedi said ahead of his side’s last four match against Lesotho at King Zwelithini Stadium today.

“Every year we play this tournament and they [Cosafa] are giving opportunities to players who never had the opportunity to play internationally,” said Mabedi.

“If you look at most countries in Africa, for most of them resources are a problem to give exposure to the players. Cosafa makes it possible for us to meet and compete that helps us to improve our teams. We have to thank and applaud them,” Mabedi said.

Likewise, Lesotho interim coach Leslie Notsi credited the competition for enriching player development.

“Football is a game of mistakes, that’s how you learn. There are areas where you would say if we had the experienced players in, they would have managed the situation better. But, that’s the only way for the boys to grow,” he said.

Angola coach Zeca Amaral said he wanted to get his young squad experience in the rigours of senior international football.

“Most of these players are young. It is a baptism for them at this level. We’re working with these young boys because we want to build a good team for the future. We’ll take the lessons from this tournament,” Amaral said.

Mozambique also fielded a blend of fringe players and promising youngsters, managing one win, a loss and draw.

“We have a mix of new and old. Some players were here last year. We took some from under 20 and 23. The aim is to join experienced and new players. So, these new guys must learn from the old guys,” said the Black Mambas head coach Chiquinho Conde.

“This tournament is an opportunity to give the new players a chance to get space in the A team. So, let me say congratulations to Cosafa for this tournament. It’s a competition to develop football in our region. It’s a tournament to give an opportunity for our players who don’t get time to play in World Cup qualifiers and so on,” he noted.

Brave Warriors’s coach Collin Benjamin echoed his counterpart’s sentiments.

“It’s an advantage for countries like us who don’t have the budget or opportunities to play friendly games. We take this competition very seriously,” Benjamin said.

“Big ups to Cosafa. I played here as an under-17. I have a colleague here from Zambia, we played together as under-17s and now we’re sitting here as coaches. I think it’s a platform for the region to develop. It’s a platform for the players to also market themselves.”

Meanwhile, former African champions Zambia and South Africa do battle in the standout semi-final clash today. Unlike the aforementioned nations, they have the luxury of a plethora of players to choose from. Nonetheless, their weakened sides are expected to win the competition and stamp their supremacy in the region.

Chipolopolo assistant coach Moses Sichone expects a tough game.

“It’s a good thing and I must say we knew we would make it because we scored four goals. I hope the boys understood the things we talked about before our training session,” Sichone told ZamFoot yesterday.

“We are playing South Africa, it’s going to be a good game, so all that I can say is we’re going to prepare the team mentally and we hope to reach the final.”

Bafana skipper Lyle Lakay anticipates a different approach from Chipolopolo.

“I think they will be different from what I’ve seen. To be honest, the teams that made it through to the semis, I would expect them to be attack-minded,” Lakay told Times Live.

“But irrespective of that, we will do our analysis [of Zambia] and prepare accordingly.”