JOHANNESBURG– The South African women’s football team, Banyana Banyana, will kick off the defence of their Cosafa Women’s Championship title with a crunch fixture against Botswana.
Banyana will also face Madagascar and Malawi in Group A of the tournament, organized by the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA). The The 2018 championship will be held in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape Province, from Sept 12 to 22.
COSAFA says the the championship will provide much needed international competition and a chance for the participating nation to be crowned regional footballing queens. South Africa lifted the trophy in a thrilling tournament in Zimbabwe last year, and along with Zambia will use this event as a build-up to the African Women’s Championship to be held in Ghana in November.
The 2018 COSAFA Women’s Championship is set to again have a field of 12 teams this year, with invitations sent out to guest nations to add spice to what is already a high-quality field.
Aside from South Africa and Zambia, also competing are 2016 Olympic Games finalists Zimbabwe, along with Botswana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia and Swaziland. The two invitational nations will be confirmed by the end of this week.
The draw for the competition will see the 12 teams split into three groups of four sides each. The top team in each pool will advance to the semifinals along with the best-placed runners-up.
Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK