African Stars will finalise their preparations for their African Champions League campaign when they take on Botswana giants Township Rollers at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium on Saturday.
Stars, who recently completed the league and cup double, take on Botswana league champions Jwaneng Galaxy in the preliminary round of the CAF Champions League in Botswana next weekend, and Stars chairman Salomo Heii says they will provide a tough test.
“Over the past two seasons we played Rollers in Botswana as part of our pre-season friendlies, so we opted to invite them to Namibia this time around. We already played a few pre-season matches in Botswana last month, but we didn’t play Rollers, and they should give us a tough test,” he says.
Stars had a fine pre-season campaign in Botswana last month, as they remained unbeaten with victories against South African premiership team SuperSport United (1-0), Gaborone United (1-0) and Masitaoka (2-0), and a 2-2 draw against Botswana Defence Force.
Rollers finished second in the league behind Galaxy last season, while also being Botswana’s most successful side in history, having won the league title 16 times and the FA Challenge Cup on six occasions.
Last year, Rollers beat South African giants Kaizer Chiefs 1-0 in a pre-season match.
Heii says they will provide a good test before their CAF Champions League campaign.
“It will give us a good indication in terms of our readiness for the Champions League, while it will help to further integrate our new signings into the squad. We will also welcome Marcell Papama back to Namibia who has joined Rollers from Jwaneng Galaxy,” he says.
Stars’ new signings are midfielders Godwin Eiseb and Ngero Katua, both from Unam; Young African midfielder Rikambura Muundjua; winger Jomo Tjiveta from Greek club Chora FC; Desert Rollers goalkeeper Brango Rukoro; Swakopmund Sport Club midfielder Maurizio January; and Lesotho right back Thabang Malane, who has won 30 caps for his country.
Heii says they will not underestimate Jwaneng, but he was optimistic that they will do well.
“We respect Jwaneng, but I feel the time is right for a Namibian team to get into the group stages of the CAF Champions League. We’ve been to more Afcon finals than them and our Fifa ranking is also higher,” he says. Namibia is ranked 98th and Botswana 145th in the world.
Heii calls on Namibian football fans to come in numbers.
“Let’s fill up the Independence Stadium. We will also have a match between African Stars and Orlando Pirates Legends, while King Tee Dee and One Blood will also be performing,” he says.
Tickets are available for N$30 at web tickets, or N$50 at the gate.
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