By Kuvee Kangueehi
WINDHOEK
A number of local football experts believe the lack of experience contributed to the Brave Warriors’ early exit from the Cosafa Castle Cup tournament. For the 7th time, the Warriors were eliminated from the competition in the first match when they went down 1-0 against Botswana on Saturday at the National Stadium in Gaborone.
A former Brave Warriors coach and Chief Administrator of Namibia Sports Commission (NSC), Rusten Mogane, said that in the match against Botswana the Warriors lacked creativity, especially in the middle of the park. He said this lack resulted in the strikers not getting any supply from the midfield.
“We could not put any pressure on the Botswana team, and thus there was no way we could score or break their defence down.”
He added that the team should concentrate more on improving the link between all the departments of the team. “Our team should link up in the different departments, namely: defence, midfield and attack’.
Mogane was, however, impressed with Namibia’s second match against Lesotho and said that in the particular game the team played better and put on more pressure, which resulted in the goals.
Former Hungry Lions player and local journalist, Carlos Kambawekwa, said the team selection was absolutely poor, which led to the poor performance.
He noted that players such as Freedom Puriza, Johannes Seibeb and Victor Helu were being overlooked by the selectors for reasons known only to the selectors. He said Oshakati City, which had a good season recently, does not even have a single player in the national squad.
“There are many better left-back players than Franklin April in this country.”
Kambawekwa also noted that the team had no tactics and was being carried by the talents of the players. He added that in the game against Botswana, the ball possession was poor and below international standard.
Another local sports journalist, Corry Ihuhua from The Namibian newspaper, noted that the Warriors’ problem remained the lack of goals. He said the defence against Botswana was solid and gave a good performance, but that the midfielders and strikers had had a poor day at office.
Ihuhua said the game was also a learning curve for many of the players as they had never played at that level, and the team is young and must therefore be supported. He said the Cosafa Castle Cup has grown in stature and must not be used to test players, but Namibia must compete. Meanwhile, the draw for the semi-final of the Cosafa Castle Cup will be made in Johannesburg on August 16. This follows the postponement of the event originally scheduled to take place at half-time of the Group-C final in Gaborone on Sunday.