Gladiators get favourable Cosafa draw 

Namibia’s Brave Gladiators will fancy their chances at the Hollywoodbets Cosafa Championship which starts in Polokwane, South Africa next Wednesday. 

The Gladiators have been drawn in a tough Group C along with Mozambique and Madagascar, but they have avoided powerhouses like South Africa, who have won the title a record seven times; the defending champions Zambia, who have won twice; and other former winners Zimbabwe and Malawi. 

Madagascar have never progressed beyond the group stages, although they did record a comprehensive 5-1 victory against Mauritius last year, but Mozambique have become a force to be reckoned with in recent years. 

In 2023 they achieved their best ever performance when they reached the semifinals, before beating Zimbabwe 2-0 to finish third, while they once again reached the semifinals in 2024 before losing to South Africa. 

Namibia, however, have also done well in recent years, reaching the semifinals in 2022 where they narrowly lost 2-1 to eventual runners-up South Africa. In the bronze medal match they also suffered a narrow 2-1 defeat to Tanzania, to finish fourth. 

Namibia’s semifinal 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 (2-0).

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.

A total of 11 teams will battle it out for glory at this year’s championship with Group A comprising of South Africa, Malawi, Lesotho and Angola, while Group B consists of Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Eswatini.

Only the group winners as well as the best placed runner-up will advance to the semifinals. 

Namibia’s opening match is against Mozambique next Friday, 20 February while their final group match is against Madagascar three days later. With only three teams in the group, every match will be crucial in determining who advances to the knockout stage.

Namibia head coach Lucky Kakuva, meanwhile, announced a preliminary 44-member squad this week in preparation for the championship.

“Women football is becoming very competitive in Namibia. The squad is a combination of old players, a few new faces and some players from the junior women’s teams that did exceptionally well at continental tournaments last year,” he was quoted as saying by nfa.org.na

“Our group setting looks good, and we have a better chance of making it out of the group stages all the way to the final. Our focus will not be on the other teams and more of what we can bring to the playing field,” he added. 

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