WINDHOEK – Minister of Sport, Youth and National Service Erastus Uutoni yesterday assured the Brave Warriors they have the unwavering support of all Namibians, including that of the country’s political segment.
Namibia’s senior football team, the Brave Warriors, will face Zambia for their final Group K African Cup of Nations (Afcon) qualifier on 23 March and are under pressure to win in order to secure qualification to this year’s Afcon, which takes place in Egypt from 21 June and 19 July.
The minister yesterday took time from his busy schedule to pay the Brave Warriors camp a surprise visit and reiterated government and Namibians support for the collective effort to reach the 2019 Afcon finals, which will be Namibia’s third appearance at the continental football showpiece if they do qualify.
Uutoni implored the team to remain focused on the job at hand: “You must be disciplined and prepare well for Zambia. You will be representing the whole nation and everyone is supporting you. We have organized ourselves to follow you and those that will stay at home will sit in front of their TV and scream for you.”
Brave Warriors coach Ricardo Mannetti promised the minister that his chargers are going to get the victory and qualify in Zambia.
“We started our preparations last week, ahead of Zambia and I can assure you that the support we are receiving in the buildup for our biggest match in the last 10 years surely motivates us to do well and we will go to Zambia to win. Saturday, 23 March, things will be tough on the pitch but I know Sunday on our way back home everyone will be happy and celebrating because we will win and qualify,” states Mannetti.
The Brave Warriors continues with preparations at the NFA Technical Centre and on Sunday, the training camp will move to Johannesburg, where the foreign-based players will join and on Independence Day, 21 March, they will travel to Zambia.
Namibia can qualify for the 2019 Afcon finals if; they avoid defeat to Zambia; they lose to Zambia and Mozambique lose to Guinea Bissau; they lose to Zambia and Mozambique draw against Bissau (Namibia have better head to head against Mozambique).
Guinea Bissau and Namibia are top of Group K on eight points each with Mozambique in third place on seven points. Zambia are on four points and are out of the race to Egypt 2019. The group winner and the runner-up will qualify for the 32nd edition of the Total African Cup of Nations
The Ministry of Sport in collaboration with the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC), Namibia Football Association (NFA) and the Brave Warriors Supporters Club have agreed to avail three buses (65 seaters) for transporting Brave Warriors’ supporters to and from Zambia for the match on 23 March.
The buses are stationed at Windhoek, Oshakati and Rundu respectively. People travelling from Windhoek are expected to contribute a fee of N$900 and the supporters in Oshakati will contribute N$ 700, while the people from Rundu will each give N$600 and supporters from Katima Mulilo will have to contribute a minimum of N$550. This will include travelling to and from Lusaka as well as replica t-shirt and an entrance ticket to the open stand on match day.
A Namibian passport and certified copy of your ID must be accompanied with your contributions fee, the passport will be returned upon completion of all relevant documents. For further enquiries contact the NFA offices at 061265691 or Namibia Sports Commission offices at 061246105.