Africa-Press – Namibia. THE Cosafa Women’s Championship kicks off in Gqeberha today when Mauritius take on Mozambique in Group A, while Namibia face a tough task in their opener against Zambia on Thursday.
THE Cosafa Women’s Championship kicks off in Gqeberha today when Mauritius take on Mozambique in Group A, while Namibia face a tough task in their opener against Zambia on Thursday.
The Namibian team has been rocked by the withdrawal of star player Zenatha Coleman due to the perceived ineptitude of the NFA, and coach Paulus Shipanga was still trying to come to terms with the news.
“Regarding Zenatha’s case I don’t have much to say, and I’m still trying to figure out if it’s really true. I respect her as a professional player, maybe the platform that she used wasn’t of the greatest, but we are trying to see what we can do,” he said.
Shipanga, however, added that Coleman should be prepared to make sacrifices for her country.
“Sometimes you must remember that your country comes before anything else, sometimes you have to make sacrifices as a footballer and if things are not going well and your country needs you, you have to remember that the country made you the person that you are,” he said.
Shipanga said they are well prepared for the tournament.
“We’ve prepared well and tried to put a team together after a long time of not playing and I have included a lot of youngsters and some of the older players who can bring unity and team work together. Im not a coach that looks at what individuals can do, but I rather look at the group as a whole,” he said.
“We also had a few friendlies and from what I saw and from what they have produced we are definitely ready. At such tournaments there is always a surprise package and we know everyone will be backing Zambia in our group, but we will go out there and not give them respect, but will rather let them work for their respect,” he added. (It was later confirmed that Coleman had changed her mind and will now join the team).
Shipanga said they remained positive and optimistic of causing a few upsets.
“These tournaments are a platform for the ladies to show that they can compete with the best and our aim is to basically first get out of the group stages and if we can go further than that then anything is possible and to win this tournament will be a great achievement for them.”
“I am on the same page with the girls and they understand what they have to do but it won’t be easy because we are playing against countries that have more experience than us and who are playing at a different level. But at the same time, as I said, this is football and anything can happen,” he added.
“We’ll just take it day to day. We are still preparing in Gqeberha and hopefully my girls will showcase what they have done all this time,” he said.
Zambia will start as the clear favourites in tomorrow’s encounter after some impressive performances at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco last month.
They finished on top of Group B after drawing 0-0 against Cameroon, and beating Tunisia 1-0 and Togo 4-1 to progress to the knockout stages.
In the quarterfinals they beat Senegal 4-2 on penalties after a full time score of 1-1, before their unbeaten run finally came to an end when they lost 1-0 to the eventual champions South Africa in the semifinals.
In the third place playoff they beat Nigeria 1-0, and by finishing in the top four, they booked a place at the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cupin Australia and New Zealand.
They are currently only ranked 10th in Africa and 80th in the world, but after their impressive run at Wafcon 2022, they are bound to shoot up the rankings.
Despite never having won the Cosafa Women’s Championship they have an impressive record, having reached the knockout stages of their last five tournaments.
Their best performance came in 2019 when they finished as runners-up after a narrow 1-0 defeat to South Africa, while they came third last year, and fourth in 2020 and 2018.
Namibia, on the other hand, are ranked 26th in Africa and 146th in the world, while they have failed to reach the knockout stages at their last five tournaments.
At last year’s tournament they lost 3-0 to Zambia during the group stages, but they have beaten the She-polopolo before – that came during their debut at the Cosafa tournament in 2006, when they beat Zambia 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw during normal time.
The Namibian team has been rocked by the withdrawal of star player Zenatha Coleman due to the perceived ineptitude of the NFA, and coach Paulus Shipanga was still trying to come to terms with the news.
“Regarding Zenatha’s case I don’t have much to say, and I’m still trying to figure out if it’s really true. I respect her as a professional player, maybe the platform that she used wasn’t of the greatest, but we are trying to see what we can do,” he said.
Shipanga, however, added that Coleman should be prepared to make sacrifices for her country.
“Sometimes you must remember that your country comes before anything else, sometimes you have to make sacrifices as a footballer and if things are not going well and your country needs you, you have to remember that the country made you the person that you are,” he said.
Shipanga said they are well prepared for the tournament.
“We’ve prepared well and tried to put a team together after a long time of not playing and I have included a lot of youngsters and some of the older players who can bring unity and team work together. Im not a coach that looks at what individuals can do, but I rather look at the group as a whole,” he said.
“We also had a few friendlies and from what I saw and from what they have produced we are definitely ready. At such tournaments there is always a surprise package and we know everyone will be backing Zambia in our group, but we will go out there and not give them respect, but will rather let them work for their respect,” he added. (It was later confirmed that Coleman had changed her mind and will now join the team).
Shipanga said they remained positive and optimistic of causing a few upsets.
“These tournaments are a platform for the ladies to show that they can compete with the best and our aim is to basically first get out of the group stages and if we can go further than that then anything is possible and to win this tournament will be a great achievement for them.”
“I am on the same page with the girls and they understand what they have to do but it won’t be easy because we are playing against countries that have more experience than us and who are playing at a different level. But at the same time, as I said, this is football and anything can happen,” he added.
“We’ll just take it day to day. We are still preparing in Gqeberha and hopefully my girls will showcase what they have done all this time,” he said.
Zambia will start as the clear favourites in tomorrow’s encounter after some impressive performances at the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco last month.
They finished on top of Group B after drawing 0-0 against Cameroon, and beating Tunisia 1-0 and Togo 4-1 to progress to the knockout stages.
In the quarterfinals they beat Senegal 4-2 on penalties after a full time score of 1-1, before their unbeaten run finally came to an end when they lost 1-0 to the eventual champions South Africa in the semifinals.
In the third place playoff they beat Nigeria 1-0, and by finishing in the top four, they booked a place at the 2023 Fifa Women’s World Cupin Australia and New Zealand.
They are currently only ranked 10th in Africa and 80th in the world, but after their impressive run at Wafcon 2022, they are bound to shoot up the rankings.
Despite never having won the Cosafa Women’s Championship they have an impressive record, having reached the knockout stages of their last five tournaments.
Their best performance came in 2019 when they finished as runners-up after a narrow 1-0 defeat to South Africa, while they came third last year, and fourth in 2020 and 2018.
Namibia, on the other hand, are ranked 26th in Africa and 146th in the world, while they have failed to reach the knockout stages at their last five tournaments.
At last year’s tournament they lost 3-0 to Zambia during the group stages, but they have beaten the She-polopolo before – that came during their debut at the Cosafa tournament in 2006, when they beat Zambia 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw during normal time.
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