Windhoek
Local football coaches are in unison that the Brave Warriors have the required quality and depth to shake off unwanted attention from Zimbabwe when they clash today in their Cosafa Cup final group match at the Maruleng stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa.
Former Brave Warriors legendary mentor Rusten Mogane yesterday said Namibia’s current brand of football is one of the best in Africa, especially the players’ calmness on the ball and overall attacking style.
“Their style of play is really exciting and great to watch. They are good at keeping possession and also quick at regaining the ball once they lose it. But we should not get carried away by our performance in the last two matches – because against Zimbabwe it will be a whole different kettle of fish. However, I’m confident we can beat them as long as we take our chances,” said Mogane.
“It would have been great should we have won the opening match against Seychelles as well but it’s fine as we still stand a great chance of going through if we beat Zimbabwe – because a draw won’t do us any good. Another interesting aspect is that we are playing as a unit. There are no standout players and that’s a good advantage going against Zimbabwe.”
Namibia’s reigning champions African Stars coach, Woody Jacobs, joined the chorus in throwing his weight behind coach Ricardo Mannetti. He said although the Brave Warriors are under pressure to collect maximum points in today’s match, they have the quality and hunger to overcome the equally determined Zimbabweans.
“The players know what is expected of them today and I’m very sure they will deliver the desired results, although it won’t be an easy assignment. One can see our players are fit and hungry for success but if we don’t take our chances then all the good play and efforts will result in nothing.”
The highly confident Jacobs added: “So we must at least strive to score two goals in the first half and make sure we defend those two goals until halftime, because otherwise if Zimbabwe happen to score first it will be very difficult for us to come back. But overall, Namibia has the upper hand going into today’s match. We have quality in all departments and are playing collectively as a team, which is good.”
Given that Namibia currently has four points, they will be required to do nothing else but collect the maximum three points at stake by winning the match, because the Zimbabweans currently sit atop with six points and a draw will be enough to send them through to the quarterfinals.