The Brave Warriors will play Senegal in their opening match at the 2021 Council of Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) Cup set for Thursday, 08 July at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium at the Nelson Mandela Bay (NMB) City.

According to the fixtures released by Cosafa on Sunday, Namibia will then play Zimbabwe on 11 July at the NMB Stadium before concluding their group C clashes with a tie against Mozambique four days later at the Isaac Wolfson Stadium.

The top teams from the three groups plus the best-placed runner up will then compete in the semi-finals of the tournament on 16 July at the NMB Stadium with the final set for 18 July at the same venue.

The third and fourth place playoff game is scheduled for 15 July.

Namibia’s interim coach, Bobby Samaria, will announce the squad on Monday before their departure to South Africa, where they will prepare for the tournament.

He said the Cosafa will provide an element of hope for the football players especially those based in Namibia as it will afford them an opportunity to market themselves to the scouts.

Senegal who are ranked number one on the African continent and number 22 on the globe by world football body International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) are the guests at this year’s tournament and reports from Senegal indicate that they will bring their strongest side as they prepare for the upcoming FIFA 2022 World Cup qualifiers.

Senegal coach, Aliou Cisse, is quoted by L’Senegalese as saying that he is happy to be part of the tournament which is considered the richest and well organized regional football tournament in Africa.

“We are going to use a strong squad and on Sunday, we shall name the players that are going to do the job. World Cup qualifiers are around the corner and we are taking this Cosafa very seriously. We respect our opponents and we will take our best team to Cosafa,” said Cisse.

The first match of the 20th edition of the tournament will see Group A teams eSwatini and Lesotho play the first match of the tournament on Tuesday 06 July at the NMB Stadium, followed by the South Africa and Botswana clash.

Source: Namibia Press Agency