MALAWI, Zambia and Mozambique join hosts Angola for the African Cup of Nations (CAN) 2010 next January, as the representatives from the Southern Africa’s COSAFA region.

However, the qualification of COSAFA teams was not satisfactory as all of them settled for third place in order to qualify in the combined  FIFA World Cup and Nations Cup qualifiers.
In a sense, if the qualifiers were not combined this year, only Angola would have been the southern African team at the tournament.
Malawi qualified after losing 0-1 in Burkina Faso. But thanks to the Ivorians for beating Guinea 3-nil, Malawi qualified with four points while Guinea finished bottom with three and Burkina Faso 12.
The Flames’ fate largely depended on the proceedings between Ivory Coast and Guinea.
This is the second time the Flames will play at the continental football gala, after a 25 year absence.
They qualified with a paltry record of one win one draw -- both achieved at home.
Now, they are in Group A with hosts Angola, on form Mali and Algeria.
Only a juju-man can count on them.
Zambia also qualified with a poor record. They scored two goals in six games during the qualifiers. Chipolopolo was in the same group with defending African champions Egypt, Algeria and Rwanda.
They could not find the net in their last four games of qualifying. Now they are in the 2010 grouping with Cameroon, Tunisia and surprise package Gabon.
Wayward striker Collins Mbesuma has been recalled to try to make up the numbers upfront.
Mozambique perhaps played their best match in the qualifiers beating Tunisia 1-0 and settling for third place in a must-win match for the North Africans who needed a win or at least a draw to qualify for the FIFA World Cup ahead of Nigeria. The Mambas were the best team for southern Africa as they embarrassed Nigeria and Tunisia during the qualifiers.
But it remains to be seen what will happen in Angola now that they have been pitted in the same group again with Nigeria, wounded African champions Egypt and Benin.
Even the hosts, Angola have not been impressing.
Angola has played eight major international friendly matches in preparation for  the tournament only winning two where six of those games were played away in Portugal- since their stadiums were under renovations.
Angola secured draws against Senegal, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Congo Brazzaville and two against Ghana, before beating Togo and Malta  2-0 and 2-1 respectively.
With a first glance on Group A putting Angola at par with Frederick Kanoute and Seydou Keita’s Mali as well as Algeria, it remains to be seen whether the hosts can redeem themselves during the tournament to move beyond the group stages.
Southern Africa might not have a team in the Group of Death, Group B where Ivory Coast, Ghana, Togo and minnows Burkina Faso will clash, but the regional teams are surely headed for a crucifixion, if the qualifiers are anything to count on.
Only two teams will proceed to the next round. - This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it