Veteran women’s football analyst Julien Garises says despite questioning the senior women’s football team, she is hopeful of a good showing at the upcoming Cosafa women’s championship in Polokwane, South Africa.
The Hollywoodbets Cosafa women’s championship 2025 is scheduled to kick off from 18 February to 1 March, and will feature 11 teams. Namibia’s Brave Gladiators will be pitted in group C alongside Mozambique and Madagascar.
Garises recently told Desert FM that for as long as Namibia fails to prepare thoroughly, the country will forever remain behind on women’s football.
“We can, however, come out as winners of the group. But if the preparations of both Mozambique and Madagascar are better than ours, we will pay the price,” she said.
Garises said group A, comprising host South Africa, Malawi, Lesotho and Angola, is definitely the wanting group, whereas countries like Zambia and Botswana in group B have prioritised women’s football development.
“We have just started with the current FNB Super Women League season, and it will be very difficult depending on the training schedule of the Brave Gladiators.”
Garises said the Brave Gladiators need proper attention and are deserving of a proper training camp, and have waited until the eleventh hour to start with preparation.
“We are lucky we ended up in group C, which has three teams. But these two countries are not easy to overcome. It boils down to how prepared you are as a team,” she said.
Namibia’s Brave Gladiators will open their campaign against Mozambique at Seshego Stadium on Friday, with their second encounter against Madagascar scheduled for 23 February at Peter Mokaba Stadium.
Namibia were semi-finalists in the Hollywoodbets Cosafa Women’s Championship in 2022, but narrowly lost 1-0 to hosts South Africa, before a 2-1 defeat to Tanzania in the third-place play-off.
It was still their best showing for many years as they finished runners-up in their pool behind Zambia, with two wins against Eswatini (5-1) and Lesotho (2-0).
In their first appearance in 2006, they claimed an excellent 2-2 draw with Zambia and then thumped Eswatini 6-0 in the pool stages, enough to see them into the semi-finals as runners-up in their group.
They gained revenge over Zambia with a 5-4 penalty shoot-out victory after a 1-1 draw, but lost in the final to South Africa when they went down 3-1. That remains their best finish.
They reached the semi-finals again two years later, but this time were ousted at that stage by South Africa, ironically by the same scoreline.
They had less success in 2017, beating Botswana 4-0 in their opener, but then losing 2-1 to Lesotho and once again suffering a 3-1 loss to South Africa to finish bottom of their pool.
The following year, they beat Eswatini 4-1, but a defeat to Zimbabwe (0-1) and a draw with East African guest nation Uganda (0-1) meant they did not progress to the knockout stages.
They were back again in 2019, but won only one of their three games, an 8-0 hammering of Mauritius. Before that, they lost to Botswana (0-1) and Zambia (2-3).
After missing 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, they took four points in 2021, drawing with a strong Uganda team 0-0 in their opener, before a 3-0 loss to Zambia and a 1-0 win over Eswatini.
Their semi-final showing in 2022 was followed by a group-stage exit in 2023 as they took four points from a win over Lesotho (2-0), a draw with Botswana (1-1) and a loss to Zimbabwe (0-2).
Namibia were unlucky not to advance from their group in 2024, earning six points after wins over Seychelles (7-0) and Eswatini (2-0), but finishing behind pool winners South Africa.
The players are:
Goalkeepers: Melissa Mathews, Agnes Kauzuu and Tunga Ndiweteko.
Defenders: Lovisa Mulunga, Unonjamo Kaetjavi, Emma Naris, Julia Rutjindo, Lorraine Jossop, Ina Katutua, Twelikondjela Amukoto and Mbakondja Kahiriri.
Midfielders: Asteria Angula, Memory Ngonda, Senoritha Aoachamus, Millicent Hikuam, Zenatha Coleman and Kylie van Wyk.
Forwards: Leena Alweendo, Nancy Lebang, Juliana Blou, Ivonne Kooper, Muhinatjo Hanavi and Beverly Ueuzeua.
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