Meshack Khotha

Meshack Khotha

Gauteng Keep Fit Masters are bracing themselves for tough competition when they take part in the yearly Southern Africa Masters soccer tournament billed for Botswana this weekend.

Jeff Tsatsi, spokesman for the Gauteng side, made the statement yesterday ahead of the tournament that will take place at Independence Stadium.

Though the organisers in Botswana could not be reached for comment at the time of going to press, Tsatsi said teams from six countries have confirmed they will take part in the tournament.

They are Swaziland, Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Lesotho and hosts Botswana.

"An invitation has been extended to Angola and Namibia to join the rest of the teams, in the spirit of strengthening the relationship,'' said Tsatsi.

Masters had arranged a final warm-up match against Total Quartz at Dawn Park in Ekurhuleni on Saturday, but it fell through. Tsatsi was disappointed because they were supposed to use the friendly to "assess the performance of the new recruits".