(Seychelles News Agency) - The Seychelles' men’s under-20 football team are participating in the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations’ (COSAFA) championship in South Africa taking place December 7-16.

Seychelles’ coach Vivian Bothe told SNA that the players are ready for the competition and have been training twice daily since last Wednesday.

“Our preparation focused on the physical condition for some of the players. Those still involved in the local matches are already in good physical form. We also focused on game tactics,” said Bothe.

The team from Seychelles is in group C together with neighbouring island nation Mauritius. Also in the group are the North African guest nation South Sudan, replacing Namibia, who pulled out due to financial constraints, and Angola who will be fielding the same team that participated in the COSAFA Castle Cup in June.  

Seychelles play their first match on December 8 against Mauritius.

The Seychelles team has been drawn in group C together with neighbouring island nation Mauritius, North African guest nation South Sudan, as well as Angola. (Patrick Joubert, Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

In terms of match preparation, the coach of Seychelles, a group of 115 islands in the western Indian Ocean, said the team had only one friendly match against local side Foresters from the central district of Mont Fleuri.

Bothe told SNA, “The way our league is organised many teams are playing important matches at this time, it’s difficult to get all the players for training and match practice.”

Nevertheless, Bothe said the players are looking forward to the competition.

“The competition will be a chance for the players to measure their level against the teams in group C and we will try to give our best performance and aim for good results.”

The COSAFA under-20 championship includes 14 countries divided into four groups A, B, C and D and the first round matches start on December 7.