The COSAFA Show

The draw for the historic 20th edition of the COSAFA Cup that will be staged in Nelson Mandela Bay from July 7-18 has thrown up plenty of intriguing ties as the competition takes on a new format and added significance. The big news is the appearance of west African giants Senegal, who will be guests at the tournament and will certainly add some star quality to what is already a strong field. They have been drawn alongside record six-time winners Zimbabwe in a Group of Death that also includes Mozambique and 2015 COSAFA Cup winners Namibia. Zimbabwe are planning to use the competition to blood youngsters and give fringe players an opportunity with one eye on the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers that starts in September, and the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations finals in Cameroon in January next year. "It is an interesting draw, so let's see how things go," Zimbabwe coach Zdravko Logarusic tells The COSAFA Show

On this episode we also hear from the technical teams of Zambia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini, Namibia, Mozambique and Malawi as they share their thoughts on the draw. Hosts South Africa also have an intriguing group that includes neighbours Lesotho, Botswana and Eswatini.

In the latest episode of The COSAFA Show, we delve into the world of Futsal, the little brother of association football that is fast growing around the world and about to get a massive boost in Southern Africa.
We speak to Junior Roberti, who along with current Brazil national team coach Marquinhos Xavier is leading a charge to provide training to aspiring Futsal tacticians around the world.
It will be the turn of the COSAFA region from next month, with a course that will run from June 16 to August 25, ahead of the inaugural COSAFA Futsal Championships later in the year.
Roberti explains the aim of the course, as well as just what makes Futsal so relevant to the 11-a-side game, especially in the training of young players.
“The fact that the space in Futsal is so tight, you have to make decisions in a very short period of time,” Roberti told The COSAFA Show. “You don’t have space and you don’t have time, so that means you need to develop your decision-making process to deal with that constraint.

“Naturally, because of that process you start developing the technical elements and skills to deal with that. The ‘problem’, which we say in a positive way, that kids have playing Futsal is the lack of space and time.
“It starts in their heads, because they have to perceive the situation and the environment. Then it goes to the leg because they need to solve that problem. It is a combination of the decision-making process in a Futsal game, that transfers to the skills they will develop. 
“They will then transfer that to [association] football on the grass. So it is a combination of factors that is interesting. We develop the technical aspects of the player because ultimately they need to solve a tactical problem. It is beautiful because you can see the kids thinking.”
Also on this episode we speak to South African junior international Rowan Human, who has just completed an excellent season on loan at Israeli second-tier side Beitar Tel Aviv.

Hugo Broos has been appointed the new coach of Bafana Bafana and had a number of

interesting things to say in his first meeting with the media this week.

The experienced Belgian tactician has been tasked with rebuilding the Bafana Bafana brand

after their failure to qualify for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.

He has cautioned that patience will be needed, and seemed to suggest it was unlikely the

side would qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, but that if the team did not reach the

2023 and 2025 Nations Cups, and the 2026 World Cup, then the media “can kill me”.

He also introduced his new assistant coach, the Macedonian Cedo Janevski, who is currently

working with Olympiakos Nicosia in Cyprus but will link up with the side next week.

“He played for Club Brugge in Belgium‚ is married to a Belgian‚ so he’s Belgian. He talks

English‚ French and Dutch‚ so there will be no problem with languages,” Broos revealed.

“There will be no problem with experience. He was the coach of Brugge I think nearly 20

years ago‚ won the cup with Brugge‚ was a coach in Greece‚ a coach of the national team of

Macedonia. “So I think he’s an experienced coach. And I have to say and be honest he’s a friend of mine‚

so think the working together will be 100%. “I know him a very long time and I’m very happy that the [SAFA technical] committee

agreed that I bring this Belgian coach with me. I think he will arrive by the end of next

week.” You can listen to Broos on this subject and a whole lot more In this week’s episode of The

COSAFA Show, including what his plans for the team are.

We will also chat to new Botswana Football Association CEO Goabaone Taylor, who is the

first woman to fill the position. She has set her sights on improving the fortunes of the organisation and tells us how she will go about doing that.

South African-born rising star Ricardo Schutte hopes to be donning the colours of Bafana Bafana in the near future, though a foot injury looks to have ended his hopes of appearing at the Olympic Games in Tokyo with the national Under-23 side.

His has been a fascinating journey having been born in Zeerust, and later moving to the Portuguese island of Madeira, where he idolised another local in Cristiano Ronaldo.

He tells The COSAFA Show of the massive impact the Portuguese star has had on the island.

“Coming from Madeira we always watched Cristiano Ronaldo,” Schutte says. “I liked Manchester United a lot because of him, then Real Madrid and now Juventus. I am always studying how he plays and he was like a role-model.

“You don’t realise it until you are on the island, but the best thing that ever happened to Madeira was Cristiano Ronaldo … and for Portugal too. Coming from a small, small island, it is just a great impact that he has had on the local community.

“Everybody talks about him, everybody loves him. All the young kids on the island who want to be football players, they are inspired by Ronaldo. You look at where he came from, what he did [to be successful], how difficult was his life in Madeira, because he did not come from a stable background in terms of money and so on.

“So seeing his career and the great player he had become, it is an inspiration for everyone.”

Schutte is on loan at Spanish LaLiga 2 side Mirandes this season from Portuguese top-flight outfit Rio Ave, and admits it has been a tough campaign with injuries.

“I have had a few injuries, but in the beginning I was doing very, very well,” he says. “I had adapted quickly to the team and was playing 90 minutes every game. Then I had a little injury, then another one and another one. But now I am coming back and much stronger again.

Cape Town City midfielder Thabo Nodada feels for former national team coach Molefi Ntseki and says he wishes the tactician had “one more chance” to prove he was the right man for the job. Nodada was an unused squad member as Bafana Bafana crashed out of the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations finals contention with a 2-0 loss to Sudan in their last preliminary match. Ntseki has since been relieved of his duties, but Nodada feels it is hard on the coach. “I wish Molefi Ntseki had another chance,” he told The COSAFA Show. “Him being a teacher meant a lot in that national team, to be able to process so much information in just seven or eight days. He was so detailed in how the team should play and how the set-up should be. “I don’t think there was any player who went onto that field not knowing what to do. It is just that when you cross the line it is not the coach, it is you and your own readiness. “I had prepared a note when I was going to the national team. I was going to thank the coach for everything, he took me and planted me on very fertile land. He gave me the chance to play [in the national team over the last 12 months]. Even when things weren’t going well at my club, he had the courage to call me back to the national team.” Nodada admits he was disappointed not to get a chance to play in Sudan as he felt he was ready to contribute to the team effort. “In the latter stages of the camp in Sudan I thought I came into my own and I was very disappointed I didn’t get the chance [to play]. Where I was mentally, I felt I was just one kick away from doing something I have not even thought about.” Also on The COSAFA Show, we speak to former Namibia international Sandro de Gouveia about that country’s first COSAFA Cup experience in 1997 and how the tournament helped to develop a Golden Generation for the Brave Warriors. And the feature interview is with Mayrilian Cruz Blanco, who is the co-founder and chair of the Sports Equity+ International Foundation.

Thembi Kgatlana has had her scoring boots on this season in Spain with 10 goals so far for Eibar in the Primera División Femenina, but the Banyana Banyana star has set her sights on much bigger things in the future.

The 2018 CAF Women’s Footballer of the Year has shown all her incredible skill, blistering pace, and eye for goal, and has been a stand-out performer in one of the toughest leagues in Europe.

“Each match I am more confident and more focused and ready to play. I want to be a team player, that is a side of my game that I have been wanting to grow,” Kgatlana told The COSAFA Show.

“For me, it is not just the goals that I score, but the assists that I get the crucial penalties that I win for the club. I feel I am ticking that aspect of being a team player and getting better.”

Kgatlana has played in the United States, China, and Portugal before joining Eibar, where she is enjoying life on and off the pitch.

“It is a small city, everyone is fanatical about the club because it is the only one here. It is not like Soweto where you have Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, and Swallows, here there is just one team.

“Everywhere you walk in the city, people in their homes, on school bags for kids, they are flying the flag of Eibar.”

She says she has learnt a lot in her short stay so far in the Primera División, where the standard is very high.

“Spain is more about technique and intelligence. I have been in the US, which is a bit of both, technique and experience. About 80-90% of the girls that play for the US national team play in the NWSL [National Women’s Soccer League] so it makes it one of the strongest leagues in the world.

“Like I said, they are big on technique and video analysis, that kind of thing.

South Africa and Zambia will head off to the 2021 Africa Under-17 Cup of Nations this week in search of continental glory after qualifying for the event through the COSAFA Men’s Under-17 Championship in Nelson Mandela Bay last November.

South Africa have been placed in the proverbial Group of Death along with defending champions Cameroon, and the west African duo of Senegal and Mali.

Despite the daunting task, coach Vela Khumalo says they will be well-prepared and the contrasting styles with their three opponents could work in their favour.

“This has been our theme, we are well aware of the powerhouse football countries that we are faced with. But we just said to ourselves that we can create history and we are looking forward to this group,” Khumalo tells The COSAFA Show.

“It is a plus to say they are big [in stature], we are a little bit smaller. It means we will use our speed more than anything. For me, that is a plus and what will work for the team.

“Tactically we are superior and we understand what is expected. The boys understand everything and I am happy with where we are at the moment.”

Khumalo adds they have kept the bulk of the squad that helped them to the COSAFA title, but have lost some players to illness.

“We have kept 85% of those boys. Because of some illness, we had to let go four of our players, which are in key positions, but we have substituted them with equally good players as well.”

Also in this episode, the CAF elective congress looms large on Friday, and having heard from the male nominees for the various FIFA Council and CAF Exco seats last time out, we catch up with the two candidates contesting the seat that is open to a women’s representative.

Patricia Rajeriarison from Madagascar and Kanizat Ibrahim from Comoros are hopeful of winning a place on the exco and outline their vision should they be elected.

The latest episode of The COSAFA Show features an exclusive interview with FIFA President Gianni Infantino as he outlines the organisation’s plans for Africa and where he sees football on the continent headed in the coming years.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) presidential elections will be held in Morocco on March 12, with South Africa’s Dr Patrice Motsepe among those bidding for the seat.

Infantino admits that the outcome of those elections will be important in determining a pathway for the game in Africa.

“It is clear that elections are always an important milestone for an organisation like CAF,” he tells The COSAFA Show. “Let us not forget that in 2026 Africa will have nine or 10 (dependent on play-off winners) participants at the World Cup. And in 2023, Africa will have four instead of three participants at the Women’s World Cup.

“Before this, a lot of organisation needs to take place, this means that the period from 2021 to 2025 will be a crucial one for African football, because you want to go to these events and play a protagonist’s role, not just go, play and come back after two or three games.

“You want to compete at the highest level and to do that, the organisation needs to be done in a certain way.

“Reforms need to be implemented, everyone is aware of that, and the unity in the continent needs to be found, backing these projects that go from good governance to infrastructure development, to new competitions, and academy development for young players.

“All of these debates are at the heart of the CAF presidential debate and I would wish the whole continent can unite behind these topics and a strong leadership for Africa.”

Motsepe will be unveiling his 10-point plan for his CAF presidential bid on Thursday, but also outlines his views on what he can bring to the position.

Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs will lock horns in the Soweto Derby on Saturday, with both in desperate need of points after disappointing starts to the new season by their own lofty standards.

Chiefs are seventh in the table and a full 12 points behind leaders Mamelodi Sundowns, while Pirates are four points better off but have been hampered by too many draws and a lack of a cutting edge in the opponent’s box.

The Buccaneers have already won both legs of their MTN8 semifinal with Chiefs at the start of the campaign but lost the league meetings between the clubs last season.

One man well placed to talk about derby pressure is Stanton Fredericks, who played for both clubs in an illustrious career that also saw him represent Bafana Bafana.

“If you win the derby, the confidence levels, not only within the team but just going to training (and seeing fans) …” Fredericks told The COSAFA Show.

“You know when you play for Chiefs or Pirates and you lose a game, when you drive into the training field the Monday morning, the security guard won’t give you a welcome, the groundsman looks at you funny. The lady who usually gives you a hug just walks away! It affects the entire team on and off the pitch.

“The confidence that comes from winning the Derby is not just about the bragging rights, it adds to your performance and it will certainly help you going forward.”

Fredericks reveals who he thinks will win on Saturday and why a must listen for both fans of Chiefs and Pirates.

We also hear from Zambia coach Micho Sredojevic ahead of Sunday’s African Nations Championship quarterfinal against Morocco, a tough fixture for the home-based Chipolopolo.

And COSAFA General Secretary Sue Destombes reveals the organisation’s plans for 2021, including when, and where, the flagship COSAFA Cup senior men’s challenge will be played

The COSAFA region will have three representatives at the 2021 African Nations Championship (CHAN), all hoping to become the first winners from the region to take home the continental trophy.

Namibia, Zambia, and Zimbabwe came through the qualifiers to take their place at the finals, which will be played from January 16-February 7, a showcase of the quality of their domestic leagues.

The CHAN competition is open only to players who ply their trade in their domestic leagues and has grown in stature since it was first played in 2009.

All three COSAFA representatives have had to overcome challenges with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic and players testing positive, but have managed to settle on their final 23 man squads.

"We had a slight hitch in terms of some players testing positive for COVID-19 in camp, but they were caught early," Namibia Football Association President Ranga Haikali tells The COSAFA Show.

"Everything is good, we have 33 players in camp, we are certain that those who might not recover fully or might have COVID-19 still in their system will be released by the coach, and we will have a minimum of 15 players. However, we are confident we will send a full squad of 23 players.

"Everything is in full swing, I spoke to the coach (Bobby Samaria) and he is confident that the core of his squad will be going to Cameroon to compete."

Renowned Zambia football journalist Kalumiana Kalumiana also gives his assessment of the Chipolopolo squad that will feature in Cameroon and their chances, while hosts Mark Gleeson and Nick Said preview the tournament and speak of the challenges of assessing who are the leading sides to watch.