Football - Seychelles get ready for Cosafa Cup |10 May 2018

Coach Gavin Jeanne will have his first real test with the Seychelles national team who are getting ready for the 18th Council for Southern Africa Football Association (Cosafa) Cup in South Africa.

The 18th Cosafa Cup will make history as for the first time all 14 members of Cosafa will take part in the regional showpiece competition to be staged in South Africa’s Limpopo province from 27 May to June 9.

The draw for the championship was made in early April at the South African Football Association headquarters in Johannesburg and Seychelles have been drawn in group A alongside the Comoros, Madagascar and Mozambique.

The teams will meet each other once and the winners of the group will move on to the quarterfinals where they will face hosts South Africa.

The team’s first match is against the Comoros on Sunday May 27, their second is against Madagascar on Tuesday May 29 and they will play Mozambique in the final group encounter on Thursday May 31.

Group B is made up of powerhouse Angola, Botswana, Mauritius and Malawi. The winners will proceed to the quarterfinals where they will meet Zimbabwe who are the defending champions having claimed a record fifth Cosafa Cup title in South Africa last year.

The other two quarterfinals will see four-time winners Zambia clash with Namibia and Lesotho take on Swaziland.

Matches will be played at three venues – Old Peter Mokaba Stadium, Seshego Stadium as well as the New Peter Mokaba Stadium. The final takes place on Sunday June 9.

The Seychelles selection played a friendly match against first division side Au Cap last week and they won 8-1.

Speaking to Sports NATION, head coach Jeanne explained that the Cosafa Cup will be a very important test for his team since they will be meeting two regional teams in the shape of Madagascar and the Comoros.

“Since in our group we will be meeting two teams - Comoros and Madagascar - who will be taking part in the Indian Ocean Island Games next year, going up against them now will give us the chance to better know how they play and what we should do to get a win,” coach Jeanne told Sports NATION.

He added that although his objective is to see the team qualify from the group stage, the focus will be on getting the squad to play well and gel ahead of next year’s Indian Ocean Island Games.

After the final selection process is completed, the team will leave for South Africa on Wednesday May 23.

The Cosafa Cup began in 1997 with sponsorship from South African Breweries under their Castle beer brand and Seychelles competed for the first time in 2005 when they played in the mini tournament in Mauritius where they were beaten 3-0 by South Africa in Curepipe.

Granted membership of Cosafa in 1999, Seychelles was excluded from previous competitions after failing to send a team to all of Cosafa’s youth tournaments, which is a prerequisite for playing in the Cosafa senior competition.

The draw

Group A: Madagascar, Mozambique, Comoros, Seychelles

Group B: Botswana, Angola, Mauritius, Malawi

Quarterfinals draw: Zambia vs Namibia, Lesotho vs Swaziland, South Africa vs Winners A, Zimbabwe vs Winners B

R. R.