Defending champions Green Buffaloes will play in a tricky Group A at the CAF Women’s Champions League | COSAFA Qualifier 2023 following the draw for the regional competition that will be staged in Durban from Aug. 30-Sept. 8.
Buffaloes will take on Botswana side Double Action Ladies, Lesotho Defence Force and debutantes Ntopwa FC from Malawi in their pool.
Only the top two teams advance to the semi-finals, so the competition is likely to be fierce, with Ntopwa especially serving as something of an unknown quantity.
Both Buffaloes and Double Action are appearing in their third tournament in a row since the event was launched in 2021, but they have yet to face each other. Double Action did defeat Lesotho Defence Force 6-0 when they clashed in the inaugural event two years ago.Group B at this year’s championship contains 2021 winners Mamelodi Sundowns from South Africa, Olympic de Moroni of Comoros, Mozambican side Costa do Sol and Young Buffaloes from Eswatini.
Sundowns defeated Costa do Sol 8-1 in the pool stages last year, but their opponents will have learnt much from that experience and are expected to be a tougher team to break down this time round.
Olympic de Moroni return for a second year having made the semi-finals in 2022, but ultimately they finished fourth.
The teams will face-off in a round-robin format with the top two sides in each pool advancing to the semi-finals. The winner of Group A will meet the runner-up in Group B, and vice-versa.
Only the club that wins this year’s qualifier will advance to the continental competition, which is scheduled to be held in the Ivory Coast from November 5-19.
Sundowns were victorious in the inaugural COSAFA event in 2021 and then went on to be crowned queens of the continent in Egypt.
Buffaloes took regional honours last year but Sundowns also qualified for the finals in Morocco as holders, and lost in the decider to home side AS FAR.
CAF WOMEN’S CHAMPIONS LEAGUE | COSAFA QUALIFIER 2023
GROUP A:
Green Buffaloes (Zambia)
Double Action Ladies (Botswana)
Lesotho Defence Force (Lesotho)
Ntopwa FC (Malawi)
GROUP B:
Mamelodi Sundowns (South Africa)
Olympic de Moroni (Comoros)
Costa do Sol (Mozambique)
Young Buffaloes (Eswatini)
Source: COSAFA.com
