Baby Warriors destroy Seychelles

Namibia's under-17 national football team trounced the Seychelles 8-3 in their opening match of the U-17 Cosafa Cup tournament currently underway in Mauritius.The Baby Warriors were unstoppable, as they gave a good account of themselves and lit up Group A, which also includes Botswana and hosts Mauritius.Their performance at the St Francois Xavier Stadium definitely got tongues wagging, as they launched their bid to reclaim the title they won in 2016.In that year, Namibia were crowned champions on Mauritian soil and they are on a mission to repeat their exploits again.Before yesterday's match, Baby Warriors head coach Paul 'Shakes' Malembu said his squad will take it one game at a time.Malembu said the team has settled in well in Mauritius and is adapting well to their new environment.“The team spirit is high and the boys are so excited to play, despite our main challenge being lack of experience at international level,” he said.He added yesterday's result will motivate the players. “We are headed back to the drawing board, because we will not let this result go to our heads. We will talk to the boys not to lose concentration,” he said. The coach added the team conceded three early goals, because they were nervous.“We created good scoring chances, but scoring is still a problem. We are not going to celebrate this result, because we want to concentrate on the tournament.”Prince Tjueza was voted man of the match, after scoring four goals. Tyrin George scored a hat-trick and Edmar Kamatuka scored one, to complete the rout. Tjueza is a player to watch, as Namibia chases a confrontation with last year's winners and favourites Zambia.Seychelles, along with the Baby Warriors, were absent from last year's tournament.They will be hoping to write a new page in their soccer history going forward in the tournament, as Seychelles have never secured a victory at the championship. Madagascar and the Comoros Island are missing from this edition, which serves as qualifier for the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) U-17 tournament in Tanzania next year. This year's winner will qualify directly for the Afcon tourney.The Afcon winner will qualify for the Fifa U-17 World Cup, which the Namibian team has never featured at.Namibia will play their second match on Saturday against Mauritius at 11:00.They will then clash with Botswana next Tuesday.The competition runs until 27 July. -Additional reporting by NampaLIMBA MUPETAMI

Baby Warriors destroy Seychelles

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-10

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Baby Warriors destroy Seychelles

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Namibian Sun 2025-07-10

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