Several players from Namibia’s Brave Gladiators have expressed confidence in their team’s chances to win the upcoming Cosafa Women’s Championship, which will be held in Gqeberha, South Africa from 22 October to 2 November.
Namibia is pitted in Group A alongside South Africa, Seychelles and Eswatini.
During a training session yesterday at the Namibia Football Association (NFA) technical centre, defender Lydiana Nanamus stated that the team is well-prepared and ready to showcase their skills. “This is our final week of training before we depart for South Africa, and we understand what the coach expects from us. The girls have given it their all at training, and we will make sure to complete the assignment when we get there,” she said.
The Gladiators reached the semifinals in the 2022 Cosafa Women’s Championship, but narrowly lost 1-0 to South Africa, followed by a 2-1 defeat to Tanzania in the third-place play-off.
Goalkeeper Agnes Kauzuu emphasised that recent competitions, including the CAF Women’s Champions League Cosafa qualifiers in Malawi, have helped the team reach the desired fitness level, and could lead them into victory.
“Many of our players participated in the Cosafa qualifiers, which were crucial for getting our fitness up. With the upcoming Dr Hage Geingob Cup on Saturday, we will be even more prepared,” said Kauzuu.
The Gladiators yesterday played a friendly match against SKW as part of their preparations. Kauzuu added, “The most important thing is to get game time, and ensure all our players are in good shape. I am confident in the crop of players we have now.”
Namibia’s 2022 performance was one of their best, finishing as runner-up in their group behind Zambia with victories over Eswatini (5-1) and Lesotho (2-0). The team has made eight previous appearances at the Cosafa Women’s Championship, competing in 2006, 2008, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
In their first showing in 2006, they claimed an excellent 2-2 draw with Zambia, and then thumped Eswatini 6-0 in the pool stages, enough to see them into the semifinals as runners-up in their group.
They gained revenge over Zambia with a 5-4 penalty shoot-out victory after a 1-1 draw, but lost in the final to South Africa when they went down 3-1. They reached the semifinals again two years later, but this time were ousted at that stage by South Africa, ironically by the same scoreline.
They had less success in 2017, beating Botswana 4-0 in their opener, but then losing 2-1 to Lesotho, and once again suffering a 3-1 loss to South Africa to finish bottom of their pool.
The following year, they beat Eswatini 4-1, but a defeat to Zimbabwe (0-1) and a draw with East African guest nation Uganda (0-1) meant they did not progress to the knockout stages.
They were back again in 2019, but won only one of their three games, an 8-0 hammering of Mauritius. Before that, they lost to Botswana (0-1) and Zambia (2-3). After missing 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they took four points in 2021, drawing with a strong Uganda team 0-0 in their opener, before a 3-0 loss to Zambia and a 1-0 win over Eswatini. – Additional reporting from Cosafa.com
-mkambukwe@nepc.com.na