Brave Gladiators eye Wafcon knockout against Zambia

The Brave Gladiators are one hurdle away from booking qualification for next year’s CAF African Women’s Cup of Nations, to be held in Morocco.The Namibians, under the captaincy of Lovisa Mulunga, managed to secure a 4-0 aggregate victory over Eswatini in Johannesburg, South Africa. Juliana Blou scored the only goal, 31 minutes into the match, to extend Namibia's aggregate. In the first encounter played in Eswatini last weekend, Namibia secured a 3-0 win, following strikes by Fiola Vliete, Ivone Kooper and Hilma Kanyama.Blou’s goal came off a free kick from the right, taken by Fiola Vliete, which Eswatini failed to properly clear. This allowed Blou to run forward towards the ball and send in a kick which again deflected off an Eswatini defender, past the goalkeeper.Coach Woody Jacobs said after the match: “We are indeed thrilled by the result, because it is a first hurdle towards qualification and we managed to get through.“The team did well in this round, but we can expect a bigger challenge going forward given that we will be confronted by tougher opponents. “The team has to remain focused and continue improving if we are to qualify to the next tournament,” Jacobs said.He gave credit to Eswatini for never giving up the fight and even creating some scoring opportunities.Up nextThe Gladiators will meet Zambia in the final round of the qualification – home and away, during October this year.Morocco will host the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (Wafcon) for the third time in a row in March 2026. Twelve teams will contest the tournament, with Morocco the only automatically qualified team as the host nation.“Zambia’s Shepolopolo has been our nemesis, but we will prepare the girls thoroughly as best we can.”He is fully aware of the neighbouring country’s stars that carried them to the 2022 FIFA Women’s World Cup, “at our expense”.The team’s progress so far without their usual talismanic captain Zenatha Coleman, unavailable on compassionate leave, will further boost their confidence. According to Jacobs the 31-year-old remains fully part of the plan.Rare achievementNamibia are seeking their second-ever participation in the tournament. The first time Namibia played in the competition was when they hosted the continental showpiece in Windhoek back in 2014. The team however did not go past the group stages that time.The Brave Gladiators have since shown visible improvement in many aspects.

Brave Gladiators eye Wafcon knockout against Zambia

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