Bafana Bafana on a potential collision course with Mozambique

South Africa have been set on a potential collision course with Mozambique after the draw was made for the 2018 COSAFA Cup to be staged in Limpopo from May 27-June 9.

South Africa‚ who are likely to send a young squad under coach Stuart Baxter‚ are one of six seeded sides and so only enter the competition in the quarterfinal stage.

They will face the winner of Group A‚ which contains the Mozambicans‚ Madagascar‚ Comoros and Seychelles.

The Mambas will be favourites to advance from that pool‚ though the Malagasy have proved tricky opponents in the regional showpiece competition in the past.

The quarterfinal clash will be played on June 2 at the Old Peter Mokaba Stadium in Polokwane.

Defending champions Zimbabwe will take on the winner of Group B in their Last 8 fixture‚ a much tougher pool to call that contains 2016 runners-up Botswana‚ Angola‚ Mauritius and the unpredictable Malawians.

That game will be played a day later at the same venue.

The other two quarterfinals see last year’s runners-up Zambia take on 2015 winners Namibia‚ while Lesotho clash with Swaziland.

The losing quarterfinalists will play in the Plate competition‚ with the final of the main Cup tournament to be staged at the New Peter Mokaba Stadium on June 9.

If South Africa make it that far‚ it will mean three games in a week for coach Stuart Baxter’s side‚ good preparation in a year in which matches have been few and far between for the national sides.

South Africa have won the regional championship on four previous occasions‚ the last occasion in 2016 with a squad that would go on to compete at the Olympic Games that same year.