A pre-tournament press conference was held with the eight coaches at the 2016 COSAFA Under-17 Championships on Thursday. With the tournament set to kick-off on Friday, here are some selected thoughts of the coaches present.
Andreas Spier, Kenya
“We are happy to be there and we are ready to play our first match against Zambia. We made a long trip to come to Mauritius and yet, the mindset of the players is still strong. It is a tough draw for us, our worry is not only Zambia but also Malawi and Madagascar. All those teams play a very good football and we need to be careful. We will take it one match at a time and our main objective is to play the semifinals.”
Iandranahefa Lemark, Madagascar
“Many thanks to the organisers for giving the opportunity to the youth to play football at international level. It’s the first time that we are participating in the COSAFA Under-17 Championships and we will try our best to go to semifinals. We will host the [Under-17] AFCON next year and the COSAFA will help us to improve our team.”
Peter Banda, Malawi
“We are ready for the match against Madagascar. For sure, it will be a tough game but we have a very good team and our youth had performed well during friendly matches. We will take it one match at a time and we will try to do our best.”
Osward Mutapa, Zambia
“Thank you COSAFA for giving us the opportunity to shine. We won the title in the last edition and we will try to do the same thing in Mauritius. We are aware that it will not be easy but we are confident. Furthermore, the COSAFA will help our youth to acquire experience and to be more competitive for upcoming tournaments.”
Michael Mootoosamy, Mauritius
“We thank COSAFA, which is doing a great job to help our youth. Our team is motivated to do well at home. We are expecting to reach the semifinal and we know that our team will do it best to do great performances. This tournament will also help us to improve our football and to be ready for the AFCON qualifiers.”
Michel Renaud, Seychelles
“We are really happy to be here and we expect to showcase Seychelles football. We are eager to play our first match against South Africa. This will be a great experience for our youth.”
Molefi Ntseki, South Africa
“We are expecting to do a great tournament here in Mauritius and the COSAFA Under-17 Championships will be really good for us to grow as a team. We will have to face good opponents but we are very confident and we hope to come back in South Africa with good results.”
Timoty Jongarero, Namibia
“Our first match is scheduled against the host country and it is never easy to start like this. We will try to do our best so as to have a good start. We played some friendly matches before and this will help us to be competitive during the competition.”
