Zambia's coach Fighton Simukonda wants the Cosafa Cup to continue

The southern African tournament is currently sponsored by South African Breweries but their contract ends this year and the event's future is in doubt as organisers search for a new financial backers.

Simukonda is in temporary charge of defending champions Zambia for their semi-final against Mozambique in South Africa on Saturday, while coach Patrick Phiri attends a coaching course in Germany.

"The Cosafa is when we discovered players like Collins Mbesuma," Simukonda told BBC Sport.

"It's [the Cosafa Cup] important to us, without it we would never have seen the likes of Mbesuma.

"It is always difficult, especially for African countries, to get friendlies to play as money is always a problem.

The caretaker coach is also confident of defending the title that Chipolopolo won last year by beating Angola 2-0 in the final.

"Zambian fans are looking at us to win this tournament, it's important for the country that we need to defend this cup," he said.

"I'm confident because the crop of players from the under-20 and under-23 mixed with senior players are capable of lifting the cup.

"I saw Mozambique play Tanzania (in an African Cup of Nations qualifier) and they are a good team so we will have to go flat out."