The National Under-17 soccer team were drawn against neighbours Mozambique for the first round of the qualifying phase for next year’s Confederation of African Football (Caf) Under-17 Championships in Morocco.
According to the draw released by Caf, the Under-17s, whose technical team is yet to be named by Zifa, will host Mozambique during the weekend of September 7-9 before travelling to Maputo for the second leg from September 21-23.
Should the Young Warriors get past the first hurdle, they will come up against Congo during the weekend of October 12-14 with Kenya or Tanzania waiting in the wings in the second round.
Egypt wait in the third and final qualifying round from November 16-18. Like their Under-20 counterparts, the Under-17s are making a return to continental competitions for the first time since the then Zifa board’s decision to withdraw from all junior competitions in 2010.
The pull-out resulted in two junior teams missing out on qualifiers for the Under-17 and Under-20 championships hosted by Rwanda and South Africa respectively last year.
In an interview with NewsDay Sport yesterday, Zifa communications manager Nicolette Dhlamini-Moyo said the Under-17 technical department will be appointed next week.
“The announcement of the technical department for the Under-17s should be made after next Monday’s Zifa board meeting. The last time the board met no decision was reached as to the composition of the Under-17 technical set up as the draw had not been made. The association has already set up a programme that would see trials beginning from district level in the next two weeks,” said Dhlamini-Moyo.
Meanwhile, the Under-20 were last week drawn against neighbours Botswana for the first round of the 2013 Orange African Youth Championship qualifier first round next month.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
The 2013 Orange African Youth Championship will take place in Algeria. The Jairos Tapera-coached team travels to Botswana for the first leg set for the weekend of April 20-22 with Zimbabwe hosting the second leg taking place during the weekend of May 4-6.
Winners from this round will play Angola in the second stage with the first leg set for the weekend of July 27-29.
