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Sikhumbuzo Moyo in Sun City, South Africa
THE Cosafa Castle Cup calendar should be aligned with the Fifa one to allow coaches to pick the best players for the regional football showpiece, Mozambique national team coach Abel Xavier has said.

Unlike the African Cup Nations and the African Championship (Chan), the Cosafa Castle Cup falls outside the Fifa calendar and the world football governing body doesn’t recognise it.

This makes it virtually impossible for coaches to pick the best players for the tournament as clubs are not compelled by Fifa statutes to release players.

Speaking during a post match interview after his side were pummelled 4-0 by the rampaging Warriors, Xavier said he brought in new players for the tournament, as he could not get top players from the Mozambique league, which is in full swing.

“We have 14 new players in this tournament because we could not bring our best players to allow the Mozambique league to continue. If we had taken the players we wanted, it would have meant a break of 16 days.

“So I think there is need to balance the Cosafa tournament, the calendar of this tournament needs to balance because it coincides with the main league back home,” said Xavier.

He said while the Cosafa tournament is used to groom future players, there was need to unify the process just like the Chan tournament.

“I honestly believe it’s best that we balance this tournament,” said Xavier, who played his club football in Portugal.

Warriors’ coach Sunday Chidzambwa said the issue of the Cosafa tournament calendar was beyond their control, but as coaches, they would indeed prefer a situation where all their best players were available.

“It’s up to the organisers to have the Cosafa tournament on the Fifa calendar, but as coaches we don’t have control over that,” said Chidzambwa.