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Mario says Malawi in fair Cosafa Cup group 

The Flames have been drawn in Group B of 2022 Cosafa Cup fair group alongside lowly ranked sides Lesotho, Mauritius and e-Swatini.

This follows a draw held at Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa yesterday for the competition scheduled for July 5 to 17 in the rainbow nation.

In an interview yesterday, coach Mario Marinica, who will be at the regional tournament for the first time after taking over from Meck Mwase, said the Flames group is balanced.

Marinica: All the teams have a chance

He said: “I think the draw is relatively well-balanced. Having said that, we have to think that all the other three opponents have chances.

“Lesotho worked very hard recently against Ivory Coast in Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and at the same time e-Swatini managed to get good results against Mozambique twice.

“I have also worked with Mauritius and in 2019 we managed to reach Oceanic Games finals and lost where we faced some tough teams such as Seychelles, Reunion Island. They have a good team with some two or three good players.”

Eight lowest ranked teams, including Malawi, have been split into two groups of four sides each and the Flames are the top seed in Group A while the other group with Angola as top seed, comprises Comoros, Seychelles and Botswana.

The top team in each pool after the first round of the tournament advances to the quarter-finals to be joined by the six higher ranked seeded sides, namely guests Senegal, South Africa, Zambia, Madagascar, Namibia and Mozambique.

The second phase of the draw will see last year’s losing finalists and reigning African champions Senegal’s Lions of Teranga paired with winners of Malawi’s group while five-time winners Zambia take on the winner of Group A.

Madagascar will face the Brave Warriors of Namibia while holders South Africa will take on neighbours Mozambique’s Mambas.

Marinica said the tournament is  crucial as the Flames prepare for match day three and four of the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers and Africa Nations Championship in July.

Last year, the Flames lost to Mozambique and Senegal and drew against Zimbabwe and Namibia to return without a win.

The regional football tournament did not take place in 2020 due to Covid-19.

Council for Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) has reverted to the old format in which losing quarter-finalists compete in a separate plate tournament.

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