WINDHOEK, March 19 (Xinhua) -- Namibia coach Ricardo Mannetti has called up 12 young players to the senior men's national soccer team that will face Lesotho in an international friendly on March 27 in Windhoek.

The new players are all national U-20 and U-23 prospects and the U-20s will attend the U-20 Confederation of African Football (CAF) qualifiers, Mannetti said in a statement on Monday.

"The U-20s will face Botswana in the CAF qualifiers on March 31 and we have decided to include them in the Lesotho tie for the much needed exposure. They are here to supplement the first XI. We need to improve these players and hence a lot of favorite names from the senior team are not on the list," Mannetti added.

According to Mannetti, the international friendly remains a priority given the fact that it will count towards Namibia's overall ranking points.

Meanwhile, Namibia's U-20s will face Botswana in the first round with the first leg in Gaborone on March 31. The senior men's team will attend the Cosafa Cup from May 27 to June 7 in South Africa. Enditem