WINDHOEK – Brave Warriors interim coach Bobby Samaria and his charges will go for the kill against the unpredictable Barea of Madagascar when the two countries lock horns in the 1st leg of the final round qualifiers of the 2020 Caf African Nations Championship (Chan) on Sunday.
Namibia’s Brave Warriors will this weekend be faced with a mammoth task of taming the fast-improving Bareas of the Indian Ocean when they meet on Sunday at Stade Municipal de Mahamasina in Antananarivo.
Although Namibia enjoys great advantage on head-to-head statistics, especially statistics from their Cosafa Cup, Sunday’s battle will however not be an easy one for Samaria and his determined Warriors as they will be facing a much spirited and transformed Madagascar which surprised all and sundry at this year’s African Cup of Nations (Afcon) in Egypt where they bowed out in quarterfinals – which was a historic first for them.
But ahead of the team’s departure for Antananarivo, coach Samaria remained optimistic about Namibia’s chances of overpowering the islander in their own backyard come Sunday.
“Just like we did with Comoros and Eritrea away from home, we need to continue that kind of start and finish the job at home. We have the players to do so and again we bank on them to make the work easy for us as coaches. We have so much talent and it’s all about finding the right balance. They had a good Afcon campaign and are ranked higher than us and that gives them motivation, but we have the right to get a good result on Sunday and we are very much capable of achieving that. I just hope the boys will have the same hunger and determination they have showed thus far,” he indicated.
The Warriors will return home on Tuesday, 24 September, with the second leg in Windhoek on 19 October. The aggregate winner of this fixture will qualify for the 2020 Chan finals to be held in Cameroon.
Next year’s Chan tournament will be the 6th edition of the biennial football competition, which is organised by Caf and it exclusively features players playing in their respective domestic leagues. It will be hosted between January and February 2020 in Cameroon.
Unlike the Afcon, the competing national teams must be composed of players plying their trade domestically. For example, a Namibian player is only eligible to play for Namibia at Chan if he is playing for a Namibian club. Morocco are the defending champions.
The 20 man Warriors for Madagascar are: Ratanda Mbazuvara, Charles Uirab, Pat-Nevin Uanivi, Ivan Kamberipa, Obrey Amseb, Marcel Papama, Gustav Isaak, Larry Horaeb, Aprocious Petrus, Immanuel Heita, Dynamo Fredericks, Vitapi Ngaruka, Emilio Martin, Wendell Rudath, Llewelyn Stanley, Absalom Iimbondi, Gregory Aukumeb, Panduleni Nekundi, Elmo Kambindu and Mapenzi Muwanei.