WINDHOEK – Namibia reigning football champions African Stars yesterday jetted off to Marrakesh, Morocco to confront Raja Casablanca in their CAF Confederation Cup second leg qualifier.
Stars played to a 1-all draw against Morocco’s Raja Casablanca last weekend at the Sam Nujoma stadium in Windhoek. They will now face Casablanca in the return leg this coming Sunday in Marrakesh, Morocco.
Starlile, as Stars are affectionately known, is still basking in the confidence of last weekend’s 1-all draw against the third biggest football club in Africa and will be aiming to deliver a much improved performance come Sunday.
Speaking at a recent press conference at the NFA’s Girls Technical Centre in the capital, Stars coach Bobby Samaria said that Namibian football is undervalued and that it is high time to bring Africa to Namibia.
“Our past games against Orlando Pirates and now Raja Casablanca is testimony we are not that far in terms of quality, if we take into account the limited resources at our disposal,’’ he pointed out.
Samaria described the mood and spirit in the camp as positive as they have been hard at work with preparations. The team will be travelling for two days, with light training expected to be done on Friday and a few extra hours to be put in on Saturday in Marrakesh.
Ahead of their departure, Stars received another financial boost to the tune of N$100 000 from Debmarine Namibia.
Executive Director of African Stars Salomo Hei applauded Debmarine Namibia for helping the club with their “African Safari”.
Debmarine Namibia had also previously sponsored Stars with the same amount when they participated in the CAF African Champions League.
“But Hei felt that more corporates need to get on board, and questioned what criteria should a club meet to entice sponsors to get on board?” ‘’We noticed Orlando Pirates in South Africa has a car sponsorship deal with the same dealership that operate here in Namibia, we have approached them but to no avail. Debmarine Namibia is the only corporate that answered our call when we sent out a communication to purchase advertising space for the upcoming game this weekend,’’ he stressed.
He added that the team has done exceptionally well and have been transparent with all their undertakings so far, which should account for something when knocking on corporate Namibia’s doors. Samaria on the other hand is well aware of the Moroccan side’s antics that await them, as their opponents wet the pitch, making it difficult for any visiting team to play. African Stars have only scored three goals out of the five games played so far since they started participating in the CAF Champions League and now the CAF Confederation Cup – something they intend on rectifying on Sunday.