Pirates get ready for Cosafa Cup |17 September 2009

The Pirates will battle in the preliminaries with hosts Zimbabwe, Madagascar, Botswana, Swaziland, Lesotho, Mauritius and Reunion. The countries will be divided into two groups and the winner of each group will join the six seeded countries – South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Angola, Namibia and Malawi in the quarterfinals.

The draw for the competition, known as the Senior Challenge tournament, will be made tonight at the Rainbow Towers in Harare.

The local selection, under the leadership of Swedish coach Richard Holmlund, is made up of Nelson Sopha, Nigel Freminot, Henny Dufrene, Alex Nibourette, Nelson Laurence, Don Anacoura (St Michel), Ricky Rose, Philip Zialor (Anse Reunion), Vincent Euphrasie, Verna Rose, Hubert Ernesta (La Passe), Bertrand Esther, Colin Esther (Lightstars), Steve Henriette, Evans Telemaque (Northern Dynamo) Wilnes Brutus (St Louis Suns United) and Mario Bannane (SPDF).

They are expected to leave the country on Friday October 16.
The Cosafa Cup began in 1997 with sponsorship from South African Breweries under their Castle beer brand.

When Castle pulled out, South Africa’s Mpumalanga Province hosted the event last year to prepare for the 2010 World Cup, only to withdraw their earlier pledge to stage this year’s tournament.

There were uncertainties as to whether the tournament would take place this year until Zimbabwe offered to stage it.

Seychelles competed in the Cosafa Castle Cup 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 were 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 Challenge.

But in recent years, Seychelles have fulfilled that obligation and now pit their talent against the region’s best.

After a disappointing showing in 2006 and 2007, the Pirates won their first-ever match in the competition when they hammered Mauritius 7-0 last year, with four goals from Philip Zialor, the only player to score four goals in a Cosafa senior tournament match.

A draw against Madagascar and a defeat to Swaziland stopped them reaching the quarterfinals.