Warriors to face Guinea first
The 2020 African Nations Championship draw took place on Monday, pitting Namibia's Brave Warriors against Guinea, Tanzania and Zambia.
19 February 2020 | Sports
Namibia will face Guinea in their first match in the 2020 African Nations Championship (Chan), which will run from 4 to 25 April.
The draw for the sixth edition of Chan was conducted on Monday in Yaounde, Cameroon.
The Brave Warriors of Namibia, ranked 117th by Fifa, will come face-to-face with 74th ranked Guinea in Group D, followed by a match against 134th ranked Tanzania in their second match. The third will be against 88th ranked Zambia.
Reacting to the draw, interim head coach Bobby Samaria said the team will go to Cameroon to try and emulate the achievements of the previous appearance and to improve on it.
“We go there to show Africa we have learnt a lot over the years. It will be a test of character and we need go and give our best for the country,” Samaria said.
He further added the group competition will be tough, but the men have proven to prevail as underdogs.
“We remain the underdogs yet again. We don't have an active league and we are not known to be a football force in Africa. We will try and do better than the last time and, like all the nations there, we will try to go as far as possible,” he said.
In 2018, Namibia bowed out of the competition at the hands Morocco after coming second in Group B with Zambia on top.
Speaking of the last match in the group against Zambia, Samaria said hopefully by the time they cross, the Brave Warriors would have already qualified for the next round. “Guinea and Tanzania will be tough games for us. They have strong leagues and they have eliminated powerhouses, so we will not take them lightly at all.”
Group A in the tournament consists of hosts Cameroon, who will open the show against Zimbabwe.
The two sides will be joined in their pool by Burkina Faso and Mali for the tournament. In Group B, the tournament's most successful team DR Congo will face 2014 champions Libya, Niger and neighbours Congo. With two champion's medals, DR Congo is the biggest achiever of the competition. Group C will see defending champions Morocco face off against Uganda, Rwanda and debutants Togo.
Dates and venues will be confirmed by the organisers in due course.
LIMBA MUPETAMI
The draw for the sixth edition of Chan was conducted on Monday in Yaounde, Cameroon.
The Brave Warriors of Namibia, ranked 117th by Fifa, will come face-to-face with 74th ranked Guinea in Group D, followed by a match against 134th ranked Tanzania in their second match. The third will be against 88th ranked Zambia.
Reacting to the draw, interim head coach Bobby Samaria said the team will go to Cameroon to try and emulate the achievements of the previous appearance and to improve on it.
“We go there to show Africa we have learnt a lot over the years. It will be a test of character and we need go and give our best for the country,” Samaria said.
He further added the group competition will be tough, but the men have proven to prevail as underdogs.
“We remain the underdogs yet again. We don't have an active league and we are not known to be a football force in Africa. We will try and do better than the last time and, like all the nations there, we will try to go as far as possible,” he said.
In 2018, Namibia bowed out of the competition at the hands Morocco after coming second in Group B with Zambia on top.
Speaking of the last match in the group against Zambia, Samaria said hopefully by the time they cross, the Brave Warriors would have already qualified for the next round. “Guinea and Tanzania will be tough games for us. They have strong leagues and they have eliminated powerhouses, so we will not take them lightly at all.”
Group A in the tournament consists of hosts Cameroon, who will open the show against Zimbabwe.
The two sides will be joined in their pool by Burkina Faso and Mali for the tournament. In Group B, the tournament's most successful team DR Congo will face 2014 champions Libya, Niger and neighbours Congo. With two champion's medals, DR Congo is the biggest achiever of the competition. Group C will see defending champions Morocco face off against Uganda, Rwanda and debutants Togo.
Dates and venues will be confirmed by the organisers in due course.
LIMBA MUPETAMI
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