Judging from Monday’s performance in their 2-1 win over Malawi, local football pundits believe that the country’s junior football side the Young Warriors stand a great chance of reaching the semi-finals of the 2020 Cosafa U/20 Cup, which is underway in Nelson Mandela Bay, South Africa.
The Namibian youngsters open their 2020 Cosafa U/20 Cup Group B campaign last Friday with a 1-0 defeat to Zambia and their next assignment was against Malawi on Monday, which saw the Young Warriors dusting themselves off with a come-from-behind 2-1 win over the tactically dominant Malawians. Juninho Jantze and Giovani Kaninab were on target for Namibia, while Lanjesi Nkhoma scored Malawi’s only goal of the match.
With Monday’s victory, Namibia kept her hopes alive of reaching the semi-finals and will need another win today when they square off against the Comoros islands at the Gelvandale Stadium in the final round of matches for the group phase of the youth competition.
Defending champions Zambia are currently leading Group B with six points, followed by Namibia in second place with three points and Malawi in third place also with three points, while Comoros are rooted bottom of the group with no points.
Speaking to New Era Sport yesterday, former Brave Warriors assistant coach and renowned domestic premiership gaffer Woody Jacobs said if the country’s youngsters maintain the momentum from Monday’s win, they stand a decent chance of beating the Comoros in today’s clash and book a place in the semi-finals – with the hope that Malawi beats Zambia in the other fixture of the day.
“From the look of things, I believe the team is looking good and they have got familiar faces in the team as most of them are the same players who were playing for the U/17 side that won the Cosafa in 2016. The players are in good hands and I believe that the team will make it through to the next round when they play tomorrow (today) against Comoros. We also hope Malawi will hold Zambia in their next match to further give us enough room to qualify for the next round,” said Jacobs.
Also weighing in on Monday’s gallant performance by the Young Warriors was local football pundit and sport expert Isack Hamata, who said he expected nothing but a win from the team.
“The team did well in Monday’s game and I really have to say the team is looking well. The coach is also doing well and heading into the last match, I am expecting the team to collect maximum points against Comoros. The victory against Malawi should motivate them and carry them through to the next round,” he said.
– mkambukwe@nepc.com.na