Warriors to face Seychelles

THE Brave Warriors will meet Seychelles at the Independence Stadium in Windhoek in their opening match of the Cosafa Castle Cup in mid-July next year. The draw of the competition was conducted in Johannesburg, South Africa, at the weekend and Namibia was drawn in the same group as Zambia and Malawi.

Zambia will take on Malawi in the first encounter on Saturday, July 22, before Namibia host Seychelles in what will be a mini-football festival in the capital. The two winners on Saturday will play in the final the next day, with the winner of the group expected to play in one of the two semi-finals in August (19/20) and September (16/17).The final of the event is on the weekend of October 21 and 22.Namibia Football Association (NFA) vice president John Muinjo, who attended the draw as well as the Cosafa General Assembly and an executive meeting, said Namibia was lucky be given home advantage for the second year running.In this year’s competition, which was won by Zimbabwe, Namibia also played host when they were knocked out by Botswana in their first match.Muinjo said this time Namibia had a better chance, as Seychelles were not considered a strong side and home-ground advantage should also play a role.He said the dates for Namibia’s group matches are also in favour of the Brave Warriors as they will be expected to play in the World Cup preliminary matches in September.”The Cosafa Cup matches will give us good preparation ahead of the preliminaries and I hope that we will also make it far in that (Cosafa) competition,” he said.The other fixtures will see Lesotho playing host in matches scheduled for April 15 and 16.In this group, Lesotho will meet Mozambique, while Mauritius engage Angola.The other matches will be decided in Botswana on the weekend of May 5 and 6.The hosts will meet Madagascar in the second match of the day, while South Africa have been drawn against Swaziland in the opener.Muinjo said the losing teams on Saturday will also play the next day, and a prize will also be given to the winner in the losers’ section.Meanwhile, Muinjo also announced that the Cosafa Executive Committee decided that Mozambique will play host to the under-17 women’s football tournament in August next year, while Zambia has decided to accommodate the senior women’s tournament in July next year.Muinjo said the General Assembly, which re-elected Ishmael Bhamjee as the Cosafa president, urged various governments to give support to women’s football and youth development.He said Fifa expressed satisfaction with the progress of football in general in Africa, and the Cosafa members were delighted that Angola had qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.The two winners on Saturday will play in the final the next day, with the winner of the group expected to play in one of the two semi-finals in August (19/20) and September (16/17).The final of the event is on the weekend of October 21 and 22.Namibia Football Association (NFA) vice president John Muinjo, who attended the draw as well as the Cosafa General Assembly and an executive meeting, said Namibia was lucky be given home advantage for the second year running.In this year’s competition, which was won by Zimbabwe, Namibia also played host when they were knocked out by Botswana in their first match.Muinjo said this time Namibia had a better chance, as Seychelles were not considered a strong side and home-ground advantage should also play a role.He said the dates for Namibia’s group matches are also in favour of the Brave Warriors as they will be expected to play in the World Cup preliminary matches in September.”The Cosafa Cup matches will give us good preparation ahead of the preliminaries and I hope that we will also make it far in that (Cosafa) competition,” he said.The other fixtures will see Lesotho playing host in matches scheduled for April 15 and 16.In this group, Lesotho will meet Mozambique, while Mauritius engage Angola.The other matches will be decided in Botswana on the weekend of May 5 and 6.The hosts will meet Madagascar in the second match of the day, while South Africa have been drawn against Swaziland in the opener.Muinjo said the losing teams on Saturday will also play the next day, and a prize will also be given to the winner in the losers’ section.Meanwhile, Muinjo also announced that the Cosafa Executive Committee decided that Mozambique will play host to the under-17 women’s football tournament in August next year, while Zambia has decided to accommodate the senior women’s tournament in July next year.Muinjo said the General Assembly, which re-elected Ishmael Bhamjee as the Cosafa president, urged various governments to give support to women’s football and youth development.He said Fifa expressed satisfaction with the progress of football in general in Africa, and the Cosafa members were delighted that Angola had qualified for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.