EUROPE SCOUTS FOR COSAFA UNDER-20S

MBABANE – Football scouts from Europe will be in the country in search for talent in the COSAFA Under-20 Youth Championships, starting Friday.

The Council of Southern African of Football Associations (COSAFA) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Sue Destombes confirmed yesterday that this was a huge opportunity for players to impress the scouts, in a bid to clinch deals internationally. Destombes was briefing the media on the games alongside the Eswatini Football Association (EFA) CEO Frederick Mngomezulu at Sigwaca House in Mbabane yesterday.

The COSAFA Under-20 Championships are scheduled to start on Friday. “There are scouts coming from Italy and eastern Europe to look for talent. This is part of development,” she said. This will also give the local Under-20 squad a chance to showcase their talent while watched by the scouts. COSAFA is also in partnership with LaLiga (Spain elite league). Initially, there were 14 countries that were set to take part in the tournament but they dropped to 12 as Zimbabwe remained suspended by FIFA, while Madagascar had some difficulties in bringing their team.

Hosting

Meanwhile, COSAFA is said to be open to hosting any of their events in the country. The country had so far hosted the Under-20 championships as it was the case in 2003/04. Eswatini has never hosted the big tournament being the Senior Women and Men’s Championships. Destombes said there could be a need to improve the infrastructure but they were happy with the refurbishment done at Somhlolo national Stadium ahead of the games. The Under-20 championships will be played at Somhlolo National Stadium and Mavuso Sports Centre from Friday, with the finals set for October 16. “When we inspected in November last year, the venues were good. Now they are first class after the work done at Somhlolo,” she said.

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