Kunene expects ‘tough’ Namibia challenge

Eswatini head coach Dominic Kunene believes Namibia will provide a stern test in their latest Group A COSAFA Cup tie, with the two nations set to do battle at the Chatsworth Stadium on Saturday evening.

Kick-off is at 6:00pm (SA, GMT+2)

As it stands, Eswatini are yet to record any point in their 2023 COSAFA Cup bid, following their opening day defeat to Botswana on Wednesday. Namibia on the other hand will hope to go one better than their opening 1-1 stalemate against South Africa earlier this week.

In challenging Bafana Bafana at the King Zwelithini Stadium on Wednesday, Elmo Kambindu gave Namibia the lead in the 43rd minute. However, their lead was neutralized early in the second-half, as Rowan Human managed to get his name on the scoresheet with a 48th minute effort.

Reflecting on the result, Namibian head coach Collin Benjamin believes that the result serves as an opportunity for his side to ‘fight for another day’.

“It’s good that you don’t get out of the first game with zero points, so you live to fight another day,” Benjamin said.

“It’s still wide open for all the teams in the group, it’s actually a really tough group.

“I’m happy that we could contain the first game and like I said, we live to fight another day, there’s still six points to play for and we will go back to that famous drawing board.”

As for Eswatini, ‘Sihlangu Semnikati’ as they’re affectionately known, head into the tie on the back of a 1-0 defeat against Botswana. Lebogang Ditsele’s 22nd minute goal was enough for Botswana to claim maximum points in Durban as Eswatini currently occupy bottom spot in Group A.

Namibia and Eswatini clashed on three occasions in the past, with the former holding a slight advantage over the latter. In two International friendly fixtures played in 2009 and 2014 respectively, both games ended in 1-1 draws.

The two nations then met at the 2017 COSAFA Cup, where Namibia claimed a narrow 1-0 win at the Moruleng Stadium in South Africa.

Reflecting on their COSAFA Cup tie against Botswana, Eswatini coach Dominc Kunene lamented his side’s inability to convert chances and at the same time, believes that Namibia will prove to be tough opponents this weekend.

“I think we started badly and allowed a simple goal,” Kunene said.

“So when playing against a team like Botswana and allowing a simple goal, it will make your game very very difficult but I am happy.

“We came back as a team, we played well in the second-half, created chances and unfortunately we couldn’t convert.

We are playing against Namibia [next], it’s going to be a tough one.”