The Young Warriors headed to the CAF Under-20 Africa Cup of Nations | Cosafa Qualifier in Mozambique yesterday with lofty ambitions of again making it to the continental finals.
For that dream to become a reality, James Britz’ side will need to be near-perfect as they navigate a very tight group that includes record 12-time Cosafa Men’s U20 Championship winners Zambia and resurgent Angola.
The pedigree of their rivals, and with one less team than the other two groups, means there will be limited margin for error.
Britz understands this and believes his gifted fledglings, who left for Maputo yesterday ahead of today’s tournament kick-off, are throughly equipped for the challenge.
Namibia take on neighbours Angola in their first match on Sunday, before facing the Zambians three days later.
“I believe that our boys are ready for this uphill battle. We are going to play against two powerhouses in southern African football. We are ready for this battle,” Britz said in an interview with the Namibia Football Association’s (NFA) media department yesterday.
The top team in each pool advances to the semi-finals along with the best-placed runner-up. When calculating the best-placed runner-up, results against the side that finishes bottom in the pool are disregarded.
“I believe the boys did well in the trainings as well as in the friendly games,” Britz said of the team’s preparations.
“We have a young squad with two boys who are currently 14 years old. But you know, I believe in these boys. And, I believe that we will do very, very well. We are going to try to make the country proud,” Britz said of their ambition.
“We are going to do our utmost best for the nation. And thank you so much, Namibia, for supporting us. And also, I want to thank the NFA as well for allowing us to play.
“Because this is a big opportunity for the boys to showcase their talent. And maybe from there, they can go much further.”
Zambia are hoping to extend their record number of Cosafa titles at under-20 level to 13 when they compete in Mozambique this year as defending champions, having claimed the title two years ago in Eswatini.
Meanwhile, Angola have made no secret of their desire to claim their first title at this age group.
They have reached the semi-finals in seven of the previous eight editions, but advanced to the final only once in that time, where they lost to Zambia in 2011.
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