Zimpapers Logo

THE 2019 Cosafa Women’s Championship will get underway in Nelson Mandela Bay in a little over two weeks’ time where the 12 competing teams will battle it out for the coveted trophy.

Matches will mostly be played at the Wolfson Stadium, although the smaller Gelvandale Stadium will be used as an alternate venue.

Fans will be able to watch the games for free, with details on where to collect tickets to be released shortly.

The tournament will get underway on July 31 when Zimbabwe tackle Angola at the Wolfson Stadium, with three matches per day in the first round. That is until August 5 when Group A and C will conclude, and matches played simultaneously.

The semi-finals will take place on August 8, with the third-place play-off set for two days later and the final to be contested on August 11.

Defending champions’ South Africa’s coach Des Ellis says she expects all their first round opponents, Comoros Islands, Malawi and Madagascar, to try and make a statement by getting a win against the 2019 Fifa Women’s World Cup participants.

“The expectation is always there, being Banyana and the defending champions. People will want to knock you off your perch, especially having been to the World Cup. But we have to show what we learnt at the World Cup and why we qualified to be there,” she said.
“We

want to give the fans a taste of what we learnt at the World Cup, otherwise that experience counts for nothing. It won’t be easy, when you play the minnows they raise their game. No one needs motivation to play a team that has come from the World Cup.”

Ellis also expects the crowds to turn out again to support the side, just as they did in last year’s tournament when Banyana defeated Cameroon in the final.

“The fans were amazing last year, they gave us such great support and it makes a real difference to the players. It gives us such a lift. We hope to see them back again this year.”

Running concurrently with the senior women’s championship will be the inaugural 2019 Cosafa Women’s Under-20 Championship from August 1-11, in Nelson Mandela Bay. —Cosafa