By Carlos Kambaekwa
WINDHOEK
A seemingly weary Namibian national football team, the Brave Warriors as the team is fondly known amongst its ardent supporters, landed at Hosea Kutako International Airport yesterday morning, after their 2-0 defeat at the hands of Tunisia last Saturday.
The Warriors remain winless in their last three international friendlies ahead of their second appearance at the finals of the African Cup of Nations to be hosted by Ghana next year.
Despite the loss, the Warriors coach Benson Bamfuchile still believes Namibia has what it takes to put up a good showing in the 16-team finals, come hell or high water.
The 47-year-old Zambian import praised the commitment and character shown by the players during their Tunisian safari and said the team is improving with every match and has just been unfortunate to concede soft goals in the last quarter of their last three internationals.
However, Bamfuchile singled out Ramblers’ towering defender Michael Pienaar as a special footballer who possesses all the qualities of a world-class player and made no secret that barring injury, Pienaar would form the spine of the Warriors’ setup when the team start their assault in the three-week tournament in Ghana next January.
With only two months left before the continental showpiece gets under way in earnest, few places in the Warriors squad are still up for grabs, but the coach gave a hint that his starting lineup is already enveloped.
The Warriors travelled to Tunis with 15 locally-based players and were joined by the Jomo Cosmos pair of Sydney Plaatjies and Zico Paulus as well as Black Leopards’ tough-as-steak defender Hartmann Toromba, while the European-based duo of Quinton Jacobs and Collin Benjamin also joined the fray.
According to Bamfuchile, the team played very well in the opening 45 minutes despite torrential rain which poured down during the fist half, but the team held on against a full strength Tunisian side that included the bulk of players who were crowned continental champions in the 2004 AFCON edition.
Namibia had the ball in the net but Pineas Jacobs’ well-taken goal was controversially ruled out for offside. Nonetheless, the setback did not deter the spirit of the gutsy Warriors who continued to match their more fancied opponents pound for pound only to succumb to a gifted goal which resulted from goalkeeper Athiel Mbaha’s poor clearance.
“The second goal was a classic header and I don’t think any goalkeeper in the world could have prevented the ball from entering the net, but once again that could be attributed to our habitual loss of concentration in the last 10 minutes as has been the case in our last three matches,” fumed Bamfuchile.
Although the coach is upbeat about the competitive edge demonstrated by his charges, he took a swipe at his last line of defence and confessed that the goalkeeping department is in dire need of some patching up before Namibia conquers the international arena with some measure of confidence.
Meanwhile, the coach revealed that former African Stars defender Maleagi Ngarizemo’s continued wayward behaviour had led to his surprise omission from the team that travelled to Tunisia and has warned the utility Cape Town FC defender to mend his ways or face the chop from the Ghana-bound travelling entourage.
The Warriors have been pitted in Group-A alongside hosts Ghana, Morocco and Guinea and open their assault in the continental showpiece with a date against Morocco on January 23, 2008 in the Ghanaian capital Accra.