COSAFA’S KING OF LONGEVITY IS BACK

Veteran defender Elijah Tana returns to play in the Cosafa Senior Challenge at the weekend, seeking to extend his record of longevity in the tournament.
The 33-year-old has been included in the Zambian squad for their quarter-final tie against arch rivals Zimbabwe in Secunda on Sunday, restoring his international career after being controversially dropped for the MTN Africa Cup of Nations finals earlier this year.
Tana, whose club career has taken him to the United Arab Emirates and Sudan, has won the annual southern African championship three times, a feat matched only by the Angolan midfielder Stopirra.
Tana was on the winning team in the very first year of the tournament in 1997 and again in 1998 and on hand just two years ago when Zambia won for a third time, with Tana named man of the match in the 2005 final against Angola.
The tough-tackling Tana was also on the losing side in the final in 2004, which gives him the record for the most number of appearances in the competition’s deciding matches.
Tana competently converted in the post match penalty shootout in 2004 but Angola went on to win 5-4 on kicks after Zambia’s player-coach, and now football association president, Kalusha Bwalya was the only player to fail from the spot.
Tana made his international debut for Zambia against South Korea on June 10, 1995. Some 13 years on, he is still going strong as Zambia travel to Mpumalanga seeking to win the title again.