Under 20 (U20) National Football Team Coach James Britz said his side will aim to qualify for the 2023 U20 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) set for Egypt when they participate in the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) Tournament.
The tournament will take place from 06 to 16th October in Eswatini.
Speaking to Nampa on Friday after the draw was made in South Africa, Britz said his squad has faced Comoros and Malawi before hence they know what to expect.
“The aim will be to qualify to the semi-finals first before focusing on being one of the two countries to represent the region at the Afcon finals next year. We are kicking off our training on Saturday at the Namibia Football Association (NFA) Technical centre a week later than initially planned because of examinations. That means we have lost 13 training sessions in preparations for the tournament, but this does not mean we have conceded defeat,’ he said.
Namibia was drawn into Group C together with South Africa, Comoros and Malawi.
Group A comprises hosts Eswatini, Zambia, Botswana and Mauritius while Group B has Mozambique, Angola, Seychelles and Lesotho.
Two teams will represent the Cosafa region in the 17th edition of the U20 Afcon in Egypt in 2023, which will serve as the qualifier for the 2023 U20 Fifa World Cup slated for Indonesia.
Meanwhile, Britz has played down concerns by Kavango East Region who last week protested against the selection of only two players from their region after playing in the 2022 Newspaper Cup final against the Zambezi Region.
“As the technical team, we selected the 40 players using certain criteria which suites the style of football we want to play. We did not select the team based on reaching the finals of a tournament. I am very confident that the two players we selected will do well in the U20” he explained.
The Affirmative Repositioning (AR) Leadership of the Kavango East had threatened unspecified action against the NFA saying new trials should be held to select the U20 teams to represent Namibia at the Cosafa Tournament.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
