By Kuvee Kangueehi WINDHOEK NAMIBIA suffered a heavy loss of eight goals to nil at the hands of Madagascar in their first match of the Vodacom 2005 Cosafa Under 20 tournament under way in Durban, South Africa. The defeat is Namibia’s biggest in any international football competition and makes their chances of progressing to the semi-finals almost impossible. Although Namibia can recover from the loss since it still has three games to play, the 8- 0 deficit is too high as the first round will be played on a league basis. Namibia now occupies the last spot in Group C, which also consists of Angola, Malawi and Seychelles. The Young Warriors now have to go for a win this afternoon when they take on the Seychelles if they are to have any hope of going through to the last four. The defeat surprised everybody on Saturday, as many people were optimistic about the young Under 20 squad. The team has been in training for the past three weeks and their preparations appeared to have gone well. Namibia after playing Seychelles this afternoon will meet Malawi tomorrow afternoon before they play their final game against Angola on 7 December. Meanwhile, reports in South Africa say that South African Under 20 coach Styles Phumo believes that his team is capable of defending the Youth Championship trophy. “As hosts and defending champions, we know all the other teams will be gunning for us, but we are determined to defend our trophy. ÃÆ’Æ‘ÀÃ…ÃÆ”šÃ‚º”We had two matches against Mozambique last week that helped us prepare for the tournament. We learnt a lot from the experience,” Phumo told the Daily News. There will be free entry to the matches, with other opening games taking place at the University of Natal grounds in Francois Road. Fixtures 05/ 12 Botswana vs. Zimbabwe 14H30 King Zwelithini Swaziland vs. Lesotho 14H30 Princess Magogo RSA vs. Mozambique 16H30 King Zwelithini Zambia vs. Mauritius 16H30 Princess Magogo Malawi vs. Angola 14H30 Chatworth Namibia vs. Seychelles 16H30 Chatworth 06/ 12 Angola vs. Madagascar 14H30 King Zwelithini Malawi vs. Namibia 16H30 King Zwelithini 07/ 12 Mozambique vs. Zimbabwe 14H30 Princess Magogo Mauritius vs. Lesotho 14H30 Chatsworth Botswana vs. South Africa 16H30 Princess Magogo Swaziland vs. Zambia 16H30 Chatworth Seychelles vs. Madagascar 14H30 Sugar Ray Xulu Angola vs. Namibia 16H30 Sugar Ray Xulu 09/ 12 Semi-finals Winner B vs. Winner C 14H00 King Zwelithini Winner A vs. Best Runner up 16H30 King Zwelithini 11/ 12 3rd Position vs 4th Position 14H00 Princess Magogo Final 16H30 Princess Magogo Prize Giving Ceremony
2005-12-062024-04-18By Staff Reporter