Warriors away in Cosafa Cup

WINDHOEK – After a poor performance during last year’s Cosafa Cup mini-tournament in Windhoek, Namibia’s Brave Warriors have lost the privilege of playing at home in the 2007 edition of the regional tournament.

After playing in the first two finals of the Cosafa Cup in the late 1990s, Namibia has been on a slippery slope since then, falling out in the preliminary rounds. In last year’s competition, the Brave Warriors lost on penalties to Seychelles at the Sam Nujoma stadium.With the arrival of new coach Ben Bamfuchile, Namibia is expected to do much better and to reach the later stages of the tournament.The draw for this year’s Cosafa Cup took place in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, where the Confederation of African Football (CAF) congress took place on Sunday.To compound matters for Namibia, the Brave Warriors have been drawn to play in Group C with old foes Botswana, Angola and Lesotho.Botswana, which has just recently beaten Namibia 1-0 in a friendly in Gaborone, will be the host of the Group C mini semi-finals in August.In the semi-final matches of Group C on August 11, Lesotho will go head-to-head with former Cosafa Cup champions Angola, before Botswana clash with Namibia.On the next day, the winners will play each other in the mini-final, but not before the previous day’s losers have locked horns in an insignificant match for third place.The mini-tournaments have been divided into three groups, with Mozambique playing host to Zimbabwe, Madagascar and Seychelles on April 28-29 in Group A, while in Group B, Swaziland will be home to South Africa, Mauritius and Malawi on May 26-27.The three groups’ winners will join defending champion Zambia in the substantive semi-final draw.Namibia has never won the competition, despite making it to the final twice.NampaIn last year’s competition, the Brave Warriors lost on penalties to Seychelles at the Sam Nujoma stadium.With the arrival of new coach Ben Bamfuchile, Namibia is expected to do much better and to reach the later stages of the tournament.The draw for this year’s Cosafa Cup took place in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, where the Confederation of African Football (CAF) congress took place on Sunday.To compound matters for Namibia, the Brave Warriors have been drawn to play in Group C with old foes Botswana, Angola and Lesotho.Botswana, which has just recently beaten Namibia 1-0 in a friendly in Gaborone, will be the host of the Group C mini semi-finals in August.In the semi-final matches of Group C on August 11, Lesotho will go head-to-head with former Cosafa Cup champions Angola, before Botswana clash with Namibia.On the next day, the winners will play each other in the mini-final, but not before the previous day’s losers have locked horns in an insignificant match for third place.The mini-tournaments have been divided into three groups, with Mozambique playing host to Zimbabwe, Madagascar and Seychelles on April 28-29 in Group A, while in Group B, Swaziland will be home to South Africa, Mauritius and Malawi on May 26-27.The three groups’ winners will join defending champion Zambia in the substantive semi-final draw.Namibia has never won the competition, despite making it to the final twice.Nampa