Makoanyane XI coach Bafokeng Mohapi has welcomed the draw for the COSAFA U-20 Championship after his troops were pitted against South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe in Group A.
Mohapi will be going to his first tournament in charge of the team having replaced Bob Mafoso earlier this year as the head-coach of Lesotho under-20 side.
The Makoanyane XI mentor stated that he knows what to expect from both South Africa and Zimbabwe having played against them while he was the assistant coach to Mafoso in the recent editions of the youth tournament. The regional tournament will be held in Port Elizabeth, South Africa from December 3-13.
“We welcome the COSAFA draw that was conducted earlier today. It’s a tough pool, but I’m confident that with good preparations we can do well,” Mohapi said.
“We played against South Africa in the 2019 edition of the tournament and we know what to expect, provided they do not make a lot of changes to their team because they still have the same coach.
“Zimbabwe will also not be a closed book to us because we played them in 2018. We will do more research on all teams because Mozambique are also a tough and competitive side.”
COSAFA Men’s U20 Championship draw:
Group A
South Africa
Mozambique
Zimbabwe
Lesotho
Group B
Zambia
Malawi
Namibia
Comoros Islands
Group C
Angola
Eswatini
Botswana