Warriors meet Zambia in Cosafa

NAMIBIA’S Brave Warriors will meet Zambia in a Cosafa Senior Challenge quarter-final clash in Harare when the competition will be staged in Zimbabwe from October 17 to November 1.

Namibia is one of the six highest teams on the Fifa world rankings and got byes to the quarter-finals alongside Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa and Angola.Namibia comes from a 1-all draw against Swaziland in a Fifa international match in Windhoek, but the onus will rest on the youthful side to produce the goods in the absence of most of their senior players who will not be available for the clashes.The depth of the Warriors under the guidance of Belgian coach Tom Saintfiet will be put to the test, while it will also be a great opportunity for some players who have been overlooked to shine.If the Warriors beat Zambia, they will meet the winner between Malawi and Mozambique, who will contest in the first quarter-final match.The other eight teams in the competition will play in a preliminary group phase and only the winners will qualify for the quarter-finals.In last year’s edition held in Witbank, South Africa, Namibia was knocked out 1-0 by a South African Development side from the tournament during the quarter-final stages. South Africa went on to win the competition.This time, the Warriors who will mostly go into the event with local-based players, will try their luck again to reach the finals in matches that will be held in both Bulawayo and the capital Harare. World Cup hosts South Africa were drawn to play 2010 Africa Cup of Nations hosts Angola in one of the quarter-finals.Group A consists of Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Mauritius, Lesotho, while Group B will feature Swaziland, Comoros, Seychelles and Botswana. corry@namibian.com.na