Namibia face old rivals Angola 

Namibia’s Brave Warriors open their account in the Cosafa Cup in Mangaung against Angola today, in a repeat of last year’s final and still in search of a first-ever victory against their perennial rivals. 

Since Namibia’s independence 35 years ago, the two nations have met 15 times, with Angola winning nine times and six matches ending in a draw.

At last year’s Cosafa Cup tournament in Gqeberha, they played to a goalless draw during the group stages, but when they met again in the final, Angola posted a comprehensive 5-0 victory. This was the biggest win in a Cosafa Cup final, and it was also Angola’s biggest win against Namibia, surpassing their 3-0 victory at the Africa Cup of Nations in Bouaké, Ivory Coast, in January last year.

This time, coach Collin Benjamin has assembled quite an inexperienced squad, with only four players having more than 30 caps for Namibia. Striker Joslin Kamatuka has 31 caps, while defenders Charles Hambira and Ivan Kamberipa have 48 and 43 caps respectively.

Veteran midfielder Willy ‘Awilo’ Stephanus is the most experienced of the lot, with 65 caps, which puts him joint eighth on the all-time list alongside his brother Silvester ‘Lolo’ Goraseb and Larry Horaeb. Besides them, striker Bethuel Muzeu has 27 caps, but most of the players have less than 20 caps.

Most of the players are also not in the first-choice Brave Warriors squad that is competing in the Fifa 2026 World Cup qualifiers, but Benjamin said the young players are keen to make their mark. 

“We’ve got young players who are hungry and want to show what they’ve got. I can speak for the players when I say that we are all looking forward to the match,” he said.

Namibia will also compete against Malawi and Lesotho in Group B, with only the winning team progressing to the semifinals and Benjamin expressed satisfaction with their group.

“I have to say that I’m happy that we’re in this group. Firstly, it’s a good group with strong teams, and we will have three guaranteed matches against Angola, Malawi, and Lesotho. Our target is obviously to make it past three matches because we have a relatively inexperienced team that we want to integrate, especially during this transitional period. The more games they play, the better it is for us. It’s also good preparation, but at the same time, we also have to get the results,” he said.

“Angola normally come with a 4-3-3 formation. They’ve got good midfielders and they’re usually possession-based. They want to have the ball and overload a lot on the wings. If the winger has the ball, there’s always a wide defender joining to create a two-against-one situation,” he explained.

Benjamin said they are well-prepared for the match. 

“Our preparation has been good, including modeling their playing style and figuring out how we can contain them, as well as what we will do when we have the ball. Of course, we will always look to move into the offensive third with quick passes and hopefully get behind their defence.

“A lot of our preparation was based on that. We’re looking forward to the match; it’s not going to be an easy one, but we know that we are in a good place,” he said.

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