Football: Cosafa tournament-Preparations well underway for Seychelles selection |20 June 2013

The team will leave the country for Lusaka, Zambia on July 2 and it is hoped they can give a good account of themselves in a group that will feature neighbours Mauritius, Namibia and Equatorial Guinea who have replaced Tanzania.

Invited to take part in the tournament, Tanzania pulled out of the competition as it clashes with a revised date for its African Nations Championship (Chan) qualifier against Uganda.

The Seychelles team have been training extensively and will be playing two friendly matches to prepare for the competition. They will face an under 23-selection at Stad Linite today at 5pm and on Sunday they will play against a selection of foreigners playing for local clubs.

The team were expected to take part in a tournament as part of the National Day celebrations, but that did not materialise.

At the Cosafa cup tournament, Seychelles have been drawn in group A and will play Namibia on July 6, and then will clash with Equatorial Guinea two days later (July 8) before facing regional rivals Mauritius in the last group game on July 10.

The group winners will face South Africa in the quarterfinals. Group B comprises Kenya, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland with the group winners facing Angola in the quarterfinal.

The other two quarterfinals will pit Zimbabwe against Malawi and hosts Zambia against Mozambique.

Defending champions Zimbabwe head the honours list with four titles, while Zambia, South Africa and Angola have three each. They are the only countries to have won the event. 

The Cosafa Cup is making its return for the first time since 2009, when then hosts Zimbabwe defeated Zambia 3-1 in the final. The Cosafa Cup was first played in 1997 as a regional championship for Southern African sides. 

S. N.