Copper Queens drawn in Group B for the 2020 COSAFA Tournament
The 2020 COSAFA Women’s Championship draws have been conducted with Zambia drawn in Group B alongside Malawi and Lesotho who made a late entry into the competition.
The Copper Queens who had an excellent run in the 2019 Edition of the tournament losing in the final at the hands of South Africa will be hoping to do better than the second-place finish by winning the championship for the first time.
However, for that to happen the Coach Bruce Mwape drilled lasses have to overcome Lesotho and of course the old foes Malawi whose Coach Mcnelbert Kazuwa included the experienced Chawinga sisters Tabitha and Temwa who ply their trade in the Chinese Women’s Super League in his squad.
Zambia will open this year’s campaign against Lesotho on 4th November, before winding up the group stage with a tricky tie against Malawi on 9th November, both matches for the Copper Queens being played at 12:30hrs with Group B matches taking place at the Wolfson Stadium.
Hosts and defending Champions South Africa lead Group A and will battle the likes of Eswatini, Comoros, and Angola who make a return to the competition after missing out for some time.
Group C contains Zimbabwe, Botswana, and East African Guests Tanzania.
This year’s Championship which marks the return of Continental football will take place in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium and will run from November 3-14 has attracted 10 teams participating because others withdraw as a result of the Corona Virus (Covid-19) rules and regulations in their respective countries which aren’t been eased.
Only the top team in each pool and the best runner-up will advance to the semi-finals.
Elsewhere, the COSAFA Women’s Under-17 Championship will also be played concurrently from November 5-13.
Botswana withdrew at the last minute from the Championship owing to several reasons such as an increase in the number of Covid-19 and also the majority of players are school-going children, as a result, they haven’t managed to assemble a team and also most players are in exam classes hence wouldn’t risk them.
So only 5 teams which include host South Africa, Comoros, East African Guests Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe will be up for a battlefield fight for the title in a single pool which will be played on a round-robin basis with 4 games each meaning all teams will play one another, with 3 points for a win and 1 for a draw.
Here is a complete group list of teams :
Group A
South Africa, Eswatini, Comoros, Angola
Group B
Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho
Group C
Zimbabwe, Botswana, Tanzania.