All regions represented in U20 team
The under-20 national team coach started the year off well, having added 20 more players to his youthful squad.
Limba Mupetami
WINDHOEK
As the Young Warriors, Namibia’s under-20 (U20) football team, gear up for the first Africa Cup of Nations, competition to secure a spot in the first 11 will be tough, with coach James Britz boasting a line-up of 40 players to choose from.
The coach made it his mission late last year to do talent scouting across the country, and the exercise clearly yielded positive results.
“We already had a group of 20 players who we took to the U20 Cosafa qualifiers in South Africa. It wasn’t the best team because some regions didn’t send players,” Britz said. However, the players made it as far as the final before losing 1-0 to Mozambique.
Representation is important
“So, to rectify the situation of representation, we did talent identification, thus looking for special talent and added 20 more players to the training squad.
“We needed to strengthen some positions and I believe with the talent we have uncovered, the mission has been successful,” he said.
He added that the group is relatively large, but the talent the players possess is hard to ignore.
Players with the right grooming could easily make it to the U23 team as well as the Brave Warriors, he noted.
Hard work awaits
The 40-strong group will report to training today for the 16th edition of Afcon, which will be held in Mauritania from 14 February to 4 March.
Before it became the competition we know today, seven tournaments, from 1979 until 1989, were held without a final showpiece.
During that time, the representatives were determined on a home and away qualifying basis, with the champions crowned through the same qualification.
Twelve teams have qualified. They are: Mauritania, Namibia, Morocco, Tunisia, Gambia, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Tanzania, Central African Republic, Cameroon and Mozambique.
The top four teams of the tournament will qualify for the 2021 Fifa U20 World Cup in Indonesia.
WINDHOEK
As the Young Warriors, Namibia’s under-20 (U20) football team, gear up for the first Africa Cup of Nations, competition to secure a spot in the first 11 will be tough, with coach James Britz boasting a line-up of 40 players to choose from.
The coach made it his mission late last year to do talent scouting across the country, and the exercise clearly yielded positive results.
“We already had a group of 20 players who we took to the U20 Cosafa qualifiers in South Africa. It wasn’t the best team because some regions didn’t send players,” Britz said. However, the players made it as far as the final before losing 1-0 to Mozambique.
Representation is important
“So, to rectify the situation of representation, we did talent identification, thus looking for special talent and added 20 more players to the training squad.
“We needed to strengthen some positions and I believe with the talent we have uncovered, the mission has been successful,” he said.
He added that the group is relatively large, but the talent the players possess is hard to ignore.
Players with the right grooming could easily make it to the U23 team as well as the Brave Warriors, he noted.
Hard work awaits
The 40-strong group will report to training today for the 16th edition of Afcon, which will be held in Mauritania from 14 February to 4 March.
Before it became the competition we know today, seven tournaments, from 1979 until 1989, were held without a final showpiece.
During that time, the representatives were determined on a home and away qualifying basis, with the champions crowned through the same qualification.
Twelve teams have qualified. They are: Mauritania, Namibia, Morocco, Tunisia, Gambia, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Uganda, Tanzania, Central African Republic, Cameroon and Mozambique.
The top four teams of the tournament will qualify for the 2021 Fifa U20 World Cup in Indonesia.
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