Samaria vows to reach semis at under-20 tourney in SA

UNDER-20 national football team coach Bobby Samaria says their aim will be to reach the semi-finals of the Vodacom Cosafa Youth tournament which gets underway in Durban, South Africa, this Saturday.

The side has been in camp for over two weeks and Samaria believes that the semi-finals can be reached, provided they go past their first three opponents. Namibia is in Group C with Madagascar, Seychelles and Malawi.”Half of the battle will be won if we come out with positive results against these three countries, which I believe is possible,” he said.Samaria, who is the first coach in Namibia to have won five back-to-back trophies with Black Africa in two seasons, says he trusts that the winning formula he has developed with the youngsters will work to perfection.He said the group in which Namibia has been drawn seems to be the lightweight one, with Group A – South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana and Angola – the most competitive.Group B has Zambia, Lesotho, Mauritius and Swaziland.Samaria said preparations for the tournament have been phenomenal and all the players have given their co-operation and have so far adapted well to the different playing methods they have been exposed to.The under-20s have formidable premier league strikers in Letu Shatimwene from Tigers, Lazarus Kaimbi of Ramblers as well as Orlando Pirates hitman Wilfred Coetzee, who have time and again proved themselves to be real goal-getters.Shatimwene and Coetzee scored hat-tricks for their sides in premiership matches last weekend and are, according to Samaria, in top form at the moment.”In fact, the entire team has such talented players who play as a unit.All the players give a 110 per cent and this shows their commitment.They are highly motivated and are eager to win,” he said.The youngsters played a friendly match against Orlando Pirates at the Sam Nujoma Stadium last Thursday in which they pulled a 3-3 draw.The side was due to play an under-17 side from the Collin Benjamin Soccer Academy at the Independence Stadium in their last warm-up match before leaving tomorrow.Namibia has never reached the semi-final stage of the tournament since it was introduced in 2000 but Samaria is confident that they can pull it off this time around.The side currently has 24 players in camp, but the it will be trimmed to only 20 today, while the other four players will be put on stand-by.Samaria urged the nation to rally behind the team, as most of the players in the squad are possible candidates to be included in the Brave Warriors for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.Team manager Lesley Kozonguizi said first-choice goalkeeper Maxmillian Mbaeva had a slight knee problem yesterday, but is expected to be fit to play in the tournament.He added that the team was well balanced and could not single out any players that will make an impact at the tournament.”With this team, it is difficult to single out individuals who are better than others.All the players are skilful enough and at the same time, each has a distinctive strength, depending on what position he plays,” said Kozonguizi, who also doubles as the team manager for premiership giants African Stars.The Namibians will first meet Madagascar at 09h00 on December 3 at the University of Natal Stadium, before they engage Seychelles on December 5 at 16h30 at the Chatworth Stadium.Up next, on December 5 at 16h30, will be Malawi at the King Zwelithini Stadium, before possibly their toughest encounter against Angola at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium on December 7, starting at 16h30.Other interesting clashes will be between South Africa and Zimbabwe, who will take on each other after the opening ceremony at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium at 16h30.The two countries have been winners of the competition before and this match will be important as it will determine their successful path to the knockout stages before meeting the other teams in the group.The semi-finals will be played on December 9 between the winners of Groups B and C, while the winner of Group A will face the best runner-up.The final will be on December 11.Namibia is in Group C with Madagascar, Seychelles and Malawi.”Half of the battle will be won if we come out with positive results against these three countries, which I believe is possible,” he said.Samaria, who is the first coach in Namibia to have won five back-to-back trophies with Black Africa in two seasons, says he trusts that the winning formula he has developed with the youngsters will work to perfection.He said the group in which Namibia has been drawn seems to be the lightweight one, with Group A – South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana and Angola – the most competitive.Group B has Zambia, Lesotho, Mauritius and Swaziland.Samaria said preparations for the tournament have been phenomenal and all the players have given their co-operation and have so far adapted well to the different playing methods they have been exposed to.The under-20s have formidable premier league strikers in Letu Shatimwene from Tigers, Lazarus Kaimbi of Ramblers as well as Orlando Pirates hitman Wilfred Coetzee, who have time and again proved themselves to be real goal-getters.Shatimwene and Coetzee scored hat-tricks for their sides in premiership matches last weekend and are, according to Samaria, in top form at the moment.”In fact, the entire team has such talented players who play as a unit.All the players give a 110 per cent and this shows their commitment.They are highly motivated and are eager to win,” he said.The youngsters played a friendly match against Orlando Pirates at the Sam Nujoma Stadium last Thursday in which they pulled a 3-3 draw.The side was due to play an under-17 side from the Collin Benjamin Soccer Academy at the Independence Stadium in their last warm-up match before leaving tomorrow.Namibia has never reached the semi-final stage of the tournament since it was introduced in 2000 but Samaria is confident that they can pull it off this time around.The side currently has 24 players in camp, but the it will be trimmed to only 20 today, while the other four players will be put on stand-by.Samaria urged the nation to rally behind the team, as most of the players in the squad are possible candidates to be included in the Brave Warriors for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.Team manager Lesley Kozonguizi said first-choice goalkeeper Maxmillian Mbaeva had a slight knee problem yesterday, but is expected to be fit to play in the tournament.He added that the team was well balanced and could not single out any players that will make an impact at the tournament.”With this team, it is difficult to single out individuals who are better than others.All the players are skilful enough and at the same time, each has a distinctive strength, depending on what position he plays,” said Kozonguizi, who also doubles as the team manager for premiership giants African Stars.The Namibians will first meet Madagascar at 09h00 on December 3 at the University of Natal Stadium, before they engage Seychelles on December 5 at 16h30 at the Chatworth Stadium.Up next, on December 5 at 16h30, will be Malawi at the King Zwelithini Stadium, before possibly their toughest encounter against Angola at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium on December 7, starting at 16h30. Other interesting clashes will be between South Africa and Zimbabwe, who will take on each other after the opening ceremony at the Sugar Ray Xulu Stadium at 16h30.The two countries have been winners of the competition before and this match will be important as it will determine their successful path to the knockout stages before meeting the other teams in the group.The semi-finals will be played on December 9 between the winners of Groups B and C, while the winner of Group A will face the best runner-up.The final will be on December 11.