WINDHOEK, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) -- Namibia will take on neighbors Botswana in an international friendly on Sept. 30 in Botswana.
Namibia Football Association Secretary General Barry Rukoro on Wednesday confirmed that as part of Botswana's 52nd Independence Day Celebrations, Namibia was invited by their neighbors.
"They have invited us and we duly accepted the request from our good friends to mark such a significant day in their history. Our senior national team will be playing them and it is something we also dearly need for our team," Rukoro added.
Namibia's football coach, Ricardo Mannetti in a statement said he will use the upcoming international friendly in Botswana to give the local-based players some much-needed game time ahead of the two crucial games against Mozambique between Oct. 13 and 16 in their Group K 2019 African Cup of Nations qualifiers.
Mannetti said he will use the local-based Brave Warriors for the match as they need to have more game time ahead of back to back ties against Group K leaders Mozambique next month.
"The foreign-based guys will not make it because it's not a FIFA date and that gives a chance to the local guys to stake their claims once again," he added.
Namibia's next official game will be away in Mozambique in an AFCON qualifier tie.
