CHAN champions in Cosafa tourney

This year’s edition of Cosafa tournament promises both competition and excitement as  African Nations Championship (CHAN) champions Democratic Republic of Congo have joined the competition to replace Comoros who withdrew from the regional showdown.

Straight from winning the CHAN, Democratic Republic of Congo will be the team to beat at this year’s Southern Africa soccer contest having confirmed their participation at the football event which will take place from 11th to 25th of June.

The Leopards have vowed to use their best arsenal in order to increase their probability of a double celebration this year.

The boys from Kinshasa have won the CHAN tournament twice. CHAN exempt foreign based players as it is meant for only footballers plying their trade in domestic leagues.

DRC’s TP Mazembe have for a long time been a force to reckon with in the CAF Champions League due to their dominance in recent years.

The DRC will however face strong competition from Cosafa Champions Namibia who are looking forward to defend the trophy, taking advantage of their status as hosts.

The Brave Warrior’s cup defence will come at a cost taking into consideration the improvement in as far as competition in the Cosafa Cup is concerned in. The 2015 edition was said to be the most competitive with underdogs defying the odds.

This year a total of five Southern African teams have made it straight to knockout stages where they will be joined by DRC in the quarterfinals while winners from the two groups will complete the last eight puzzle.

Lowly ranked teams will be split into two four team groups. A winner from each group will make it to the knockout round where they will be drawn with any of the top sides.

The Malawi national football team will have to go through the group stages after dropping on the latest Fifa ranking.

The Flames are among the list of lowly ranked sides as of April 2016 which includes, Angola, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Madagascar, Lesotho, Mauritius and Sychelles.

The region’s best teams category includes Zambia, South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Mozambique, and the guests DRC.