Online Reporter
THE COSAFA Under-17 championships, which are being used as qualifiers for the CAF and FIFA Under-17 Championships, will come to a climax with the final this weekend.
It will end two weeks of action in which some of the best Under-17 footballers in Southern Africa have been showcasing their skills.
It’s the first major football tournament we have held in a long time and while our Young Warriors had a disastrous showing, we showed the region that we are good hosts.
The general organisation of the tournament has been quite impressive and, at a time when our football is struggling on the field, this has been refreshing.
For a country which doesn’t have even one stadium which is certified to host A-Class international matches, like those in which the Warriors take part, we have done a pretty job organising this junior tournament.
The two stadiums which we used, Ngoni and Heart, proved to be good enough for this tournament.
Next week, focus will turn to cricket when seven countries converge here for the ICC Twenty20 Africa Regional Qualifiers.
The eight teams will battle for two places at the ICC Twenty20 World Cup next year.
Kenya, Namibia, Nigeria, Malawi, Uganda, Botswana, Tanzania and Zimbabwe will battle for those two places.This is not the first time we have handled this qualifying tournament.
That the ICC still believe in us, as a very good host, is testament to the good work that we keep doing.
Our challenge to the Chevrons is that they should not let down the nation the way the Young Warriors did.
We know that Twenty20 cricket is unpredictable and while our team will be the favourites, nothing can be taken for granted.
The performance of Namibia in the recent series has shown that the gap between us, and the other teams we are going to face in these qualifiers, is not as big as some might be thinking.
But, what is also important is that we should, once again, show that we are good hosts.
One of the areas where we have charmed the world, when it comes to the cricket tournaments that we have hosted, has been the good attendance figures at the matches.
Of course, the bulk of the crowd has followed the matches featuring the Chevrons, which is quite normal.
But we also need to show that we really love our cricket and there is no harm in watching matches featuring the other teams.
There has been a lot of positive media coverage of our country in recent weeks.
A few weeks ago, we made headlines when we were named the number one tourism destination in the world this year.
We have to build on that and showing the world that we can successfully host seven cricket nations and make all our visitors feel at home is part of enhancing our reputation as a country which everyone should visit.
