Malawi face familiar foes in Region 5 Games
Both Malawi women’s Under-20 and men’s Under-17 teams will face familiar foes at the 2018 African Union Sport Council (AUSC) Region 5 Youth Games in Gaborone, Botswana from December 6 to 16.
In men’s football, Malawi is in Group B alongside 2018 Cosafa Under-17 champions Angola, guests Tanzania and South Africa. Hosts Botswana, Zambia, e-Swatini and Namibia are in Group A.
This means Malawi will face Angola for the second time this year after they were also drawn in the same group at the Cosafa Championship in July.
In women’s Under-20 tournament, Malawi has been drawn in Group A against hosts Botswana, Zimbabwe and Lesotho.
Defending champions South Africa will face Namibia and e-Swatini in Group B.
Though under AUSC Region 5, Cosafa has been tasked with organising the football tournaments, according to Cosafa deputy chief executive officer responsible for competitions Suzgo Nyirenda.
He said Cosafa region men’s Under-17 and women Under-20 teams should consider themselves lucky to have participated in two competitions each this year.
“The African Union Sport Council [AUSC] Region 5 Youth Games are a biannual event. This means every two years the Cosafa Under-17 and Under-20 teams have a chance to play two competitions in a year. This is good for the region as it gives the teams a chance to expose talent,” he said.
Meanwhile, Football Association of Malawi (FAM) general secretary Alfred Gunda said the technical subcommittee would meet to plan for the two competitions.
Deklerk Msakakuona, who led the Under-17 men’s team at the Cosafa Championship in Mauritius, is expected to be in charge of the team while the women’s football team will be under head coach Maggie Chombo-Sadik.
The games are at its 8th edition and all Region 5 member countries, Angola, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe will participate.
