Maqonda Ndlovu
Brave Warriors head coach Collin Benjamin says hard work has already started, as the Brave Warriors already know who their 2023 Africa Cup of Nations opponents are.
Speaking to New Era Sport following the draw in Ivory Coast, which pitted Namibia against South Africa, Tunisia and Mali, Benjamin said the team will be based in the city of Korhogo, which is 700 to 800 kilometres away from the capital, Abidjan.
“We have already started with scouting the facilities, such as the stadium, the training facilities, and other amenities, as we may need to bring a few things because Korhogo is a small town,” Benjamin said.
He said they will go in preparations for the camp which he envisaged to be between December and January, because the players need to be in a very fit physical and mental state.
“The players need to be in a very good space. We need to get them conditions that are similar to what they will face in Ivory Coast during the tournament. We have to prepare better and be in good shape,” he
said.
He acknowledged that the team was in a tough group headed by Tunisia who are former Afcon champions and have been to the World Cup a few times.
Benjamin said Mali is very good organisational wise and will use a lot of French-based players as well as a long history in the Afcon tournament.
With South Africa, Benjamin said they are an open book to Namibia but will not be underestimated as they are also former champions and have been to the World Cup
before.
On what the Brave Warriors will be targeting, Benjamin said the aim is to do better than what the team did before.
“Yes, they say we are a small country on paper, but we are going to sell ourselves as expensively as possible. That being said, we are definitely not going to act like small guys. They will see hungry, aggressive boys who will fight like brave warriors. We want to accumulate as many points as we did before.”
The coach said this time around, the team will be coming back with experienced players, as some of them will be playing at the Afcon tournament for the second time, while he will be going to the tournament for the third time, once as a player, assistant coach and head coach.
He will be assisted by Ronnie Kanalelo, who will be going for the fourth time (once as a player, once as goalkeeper coach, and twice as assistant coach).
The tournament is scheduled for 13 January to 11 February 2023, and this will be Namibia’s fourth appearance at the finals. The Brave Warriors first qualified in 1998 before going back in 2008 and 2019. – jrnmarko@gmail.com