Warriors need a win

BRAVE Warriors coach Tom Saintfiet emphasised the importance of winning a do-or die encounter against Malawi today as the two nations revive their rivalry at the Cosafa Senior Challenge Cup in Mphumalanga this afternoon.

Kick off is 15h00. Namibia will hope to pull it through after they fell 3-1 to the Malawians on March 26 in Windhoek this year, while Malawi on their part, will want to maintain their perfect record in the tournament so far.The match will be decisive for the Warriors as a loss will see them taking the next flight back to Windhoek, while a win will see them facing a young Bafana Bafana side on Saturday.The South African development side, coached by Serame Letsoaka, will play their first match of the tournament when they meet the winners group A.The match, which was previously scheduled to kick-off at 15h00, has now been moved to 17h30, the organisers confirmed.Namibia has four points from their two matches so far, while Malawi has garnered six, with a draw or a win set to ensure them a date with the South African side.Yesterday, team manager, Tim Isaacs told The Namibian Sport that Saintfiet emphasised the importance of winning the encounter, which could liven-up their hopes of making it to the semi-final stages of the competition.”We had a very good chat with the players today (Wednesday) and they looked very positive.It was made clear that they have to win the match.They need to take responsibility after the coach was not happy with their performance in the 1-all draw against Lesotho on Tuesday evening,” said Isaacs.He said about 60 per cent of the players have been downed by a bug of flu, while several are also nursing injuries.Veteran Warriors winger, Paulus Shipanga, had to be replaced during the Lesotho match due to a long time groin injury and will not be available for today’s clash, while midfielder Brian Brendell, will also miss out due to an ankle injury.Isaacs said the coach had enough players at his disposal to field against the Malawians, “but he was interested in a win”.šThe coach said he was not impressed with the performance of some players during the Lesotho game and should think that he will introduce the players who did duty against the Comoros Islands again,” he said.Namibia beat Comoros Islands 3-0 in their opening match last Sunday.The Namibian team will only be announced today.Warriors midfielder, Quinton Jacobs, who had a pathetic 2010 African Nations/World Cup campaign, has now found his magic after being given the captain’s armband and will be expected to lead the side in his third match today.Namibia will hope to pull it through after they fell 3-1 to the Malawians on March 26 in Windhoek this year, while Malawi on their part, will want to maintain their perfect record in the tournament so far.The match will be decisive for the Warriors as a loss will see them taking the next flight back to Windhoek, while a win will see them facing a young Bafana Bafana side on Saturday.The South African development side, coached by Serame Letsoaka, will play their first match of the tournament when they meet the winners group A.The match, which was previously scheduled to kick-off at 15h00, has now been moved to 17h30, the organisers confirmed.Namibia has four points from their two matches so far, while Malawi has garnered six, with a draw or a win set to ensure them a date with the South African side.Yesterday, team manager, Tim Isaacs told The Namibian Sport that Saintfiet emphasised the importance of winning the encounter, which could liven-up their hopes of making it to the semi-final stages of the competition.”We had a very good chat with the players today (Wednesday) and they looked very positive.It was made clear that they have to win the match.They need to take responsibility after the coach was not happy with their performance in the 1-all draw against Lesotho on Tuesday evening,” said Isaacs.He said about 60 per cent of the players have been downed by a bug of flu, while several are also nursing injuries.Veteran Warriors winger, Paulus Shipanga, had to be replaced during the Lesotho match due to a long time groin injury and will not be available for today’s clash, while midfielder Brian Brendell, will also miss out due to an ankle injury.Isaacs said the coach had enough players at his disposal to field against the Malawians, “but he was interested in a win”.šThe coach said he was not impressed with the performance of some players during the Lesotho game and should think that he will introduce the players who did duty against the Comoros Islands again,” he said.Namibia beat Comoros Islands 3-0 in their opening match last Sunday.The Namibian team will only be announced today.Warriors midfielder, Quinton Jacobs, who had a pathetic 2010 African Nations/World Cup campaign, has now found his magic after being given the captain’s armband and will be expected to lead the side in his third match today.