Kenya bags COSAFA invite

Council of Southern Africa Football
Associations (COSAFA) Cup tournament - Kenya
has been invited to this year's Council of
Southern Africa Football Associations (COSAFA)
Cup tournament, which kicks off 6 July in
Lusaka, Zambia.
Kenya will feature in the event as a guest side,
since it is a member of the Council of East and
Central Africa Football Associations (CECAFA).
Confirming the draw before jetting out to
Lusaka for the draw Friday, Football Kenya
Federation (FKF) Chief Executive Officer
Michael Esakawa said the tournament would be
a good build-up for the Kenyan squad's
preparations for the 2014 World Cup
qualifiers.
Kenya will use the event to prepare for
September's 2014 World Cup Group F qualifier
against Namibia.
The East Africans will also use the invite to test
their might against southern Africa football
giants - Angola, South Africa and Zambia.
The full members of COSAFA are Angola,
Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Madagascar,
Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia,
South Africa, Seychelles, Swaziland, Zambia
and Zimbabwe
In the meantime, Kenya's 25-member
provisional squad has begun preparations for
matches against Ghana and Nigeria in June.
Kenya hosts Ghana in a friendly tie in Nairobi 1
June before hosting Nigeria in a 2014 World
Cup Group F qualifier four days later.
The team, shaping up thrice a week under
coach Adel Amrouche, are mostly local
players.
Kenyan professionals playing abroad will link
up with the team later this month, when the
2012-13 European football season takes a
break.