Namibia, Angola chase Cosafa Cup glory

by Graeme Jackson

Sunday Jul 07, 2024. 11:00

Namibia and Angola will chase Cosafa Cup glory when they meet in the tournament final at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha, South Africa, on Sunday afternoon.

The teams – who played out a goalless draw when they met in the group stage earlier in the competition – came through testing semifinals.

The Brave Warriors needed penalties to overcome Mozambique after a goalless stalemate, while the Palancas Negras survived a late scare against Comoros to triumph 2-1.

Both teams have won the Cosafa Cup before, with Angola triumphing in 1999, 2001 and 2004, while Namibia’s lone title was in 2015.

“The boys are showing character and they are showing really good ability and potential,” said Brave Warriors coach Collin Benjamin.

“For the game on Sunday, the margins are small – the one [team] that makes the most mistakes will lose it.”

Angola coach Pedro Gonvcalves agrees that the final is likely to be a tightly-contested one.

“Namibia is a close country, we are brothers [regional neighbours]… there is a lot of connection between Angola and Namibia,” he explained.

“We know it will be very, very tough because Namibia almost picked up, I think, 90 percent of their main team, if you can say that, so for sure it will be a big challenge.”

The day’s action at the NMBS will kick-off at midday with the third-place playoff between Mozambique and Comoros, before the final gets underway at 3pm CAT.