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