Warriors take centre stage

Brave Warriors assistant coach Collin Benjamin will today announce his final squad for the upcoming Cosafa Cup in South Africa, which will take place from 25 May to 8 June.The Warriors have less than a week to get their house in order and get ready for the tournament. They face Mozambique on Sunday.The Cosafa Cup has long been a platform for players to showcase their qualities and build their reputations. Benjamin has emphasised the importance of having the players do just that, and not necessarily winning the tournament.This will, however, not stop the nation from shifting gears to focus on the cup competition, with all major local football activities all but done and dusted in the country.The Warriors, who initially called up a 29-man training squad, have struggled in terms of getting players to training. This was because most local players still had club commitments to adhere to. However, this should now be a thing of the past with only a few matches left in the Namibia Premier League (NPL) and the Standard Bank Top 8 Cup trophy going the way of African Stars.Black Africa have already won the NPL title. According to Hilda Basson-Namundjebo, the chairperson of the Fifa normalisation committee, the Warriors are ready to represent the nation in South Africa and will leave on Thursday.“Everything and everyone is ready,” she said.The Cosafa Cup will see Benjamin taking the squad to South Africa, as head coach Ricardo Mannetti continues his preparations for Afcon 2019, which takes place from 21 June to 19 July in Egypt.Benjamin is determined to hone a squad that is capable of representing Namibia in other major competitions, including the campaign to qualify for the 2020 African Nations Championship (Chan). The Warriors have an upcoming Chan qualifier against Comoros. But before that can materialise the Namibians need to do the job at hand and overcome their Group B opponents at the Cosafa Cup - Mozambique, Malawi and Seychelles. The winner of Group B will meet Zambia in the first quarterfinal of the competition on 2 June.Namibia will play their first match against Mozambique on Sunday. They will then play Malawi on 28 May, while they take on Seychelles on 30 May.WinnersNamibia won the Cosafa Cup in 2015. They also won the plate competition in 2016 and reached the final of the plate section again in 2017, before losing to South Africa. Their trilling run four years ago was a huge personal triumph for Mannetti. The Warriors also played in the 1999 final, but narrowly lost to Angola during extra-time in the second leg in Windhoek. Zimbabwe are the defending champions and will be among the favourites to once again lift the trophy. This time around the richly talented sides include East African guest nation Uganda. Hosts South Africa will enter the competition at the quarterfinal stage on 2 June, when they take on old foes Botswana.The warriors training squad is as follows: Lloyd Kazapua, Ratanda Mbazuvara Kamaijanda Ndisiro, Ikeinge Erasmus, Treasure Kauapirura, Larry Horaeb, Charles Hambira, Vitapi Ngaruka, Ivan Kamberipa, Emilio Martin, Aprocious Petrus, Edmund Kambanda, Absalom Iimbondi, Aubrey Amseb, Dynamo Fredericks, Lucky Heita, Marcell Papama, Wesley Katjiteo, Revered Matroos, Wendell Rudath, Gustav Isaak, Llewelyn Stanley, Martin Shimaneni, Johannes Jackson, Issaskar Gurirab, McCartney Naweseb, Junias Theophilus, Joslyn Kamatuka and Quinton Kuruseb.LIMBA MUPETAMI

Warriors take centre stage

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-07

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Warriors take centre stage

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-07

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