THE Baby Warriors’ desire to reach the 2018 Cosafa under-17 championships knockout stage will spur them on in their clash against Botswana at the Stade Anjalay in Belle Vue Muarel, Mauritius on Tuesday morning.
Namibia face neighbours Botswana in a Group A do-or-die clash at 10h00, with the winner guaranteed a semi-final berth.
With six points gained from two wins, Botswana only need a draw to progress as group winners, while Namibia and host Mauritius, who play already eliminated Seychelles in the other match, must win to keep their last-four hopes alive.
Namibia are third, equal on three points with Mauritius in second place, while Seychelles are bottom with no points on the board.
Buoyed by a blistering start when breezing past Seychelles 8-3 in Friday’s tournament opener, the young Namibians lost the plot against Mauritius to go down 1-0 on Sunday.
Nonetheless, and while lamenting the loss, head coach Paul ‘Shakes’ Malembu believes his boys have the ability and mental fortitude to salvage their campaign.
“It is not all over yet. We still have a chance, and the boys are focused and in good spirits at the moment. We just needed to, and have lifted them up after the defeat on Saturday, and now we need to see what happens on Tuesday. There is no pressure, they are youngsters, and they need our motivation,” Malembu told the NFA website yesterday.
The team knows what is at stake, and are up for the challenge, he added.
“We are encouraging them to give it all on match day, and see what happens. They have done well in the opening game. We can try to emulate that display, and again play to our strengths,” he explained.
The Cosafa championships serve as a qualifier for the 2019 African u17 championships that will be played in Tanzania, which in turn is a qualifier for the Fifa World Cup in Peru later in the year.
