As Namibia’s beloved Brave Warriors go toe-to-toe with the unpredictable Mambas of Mozambique in today’s Cosafa Cup semi-final clash at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, one can only borrow from the battle-hardened words of the great Sun Tzu, a renowned ancient Chinese military general, strategist and philosopher.
Having travelled and strategised wars across the breadth and width of Asia, Tzu, many moons ago, perfectly summed it up when he said: “Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win”.
The Mambas on Wednesday night stretched South Africa’s Bafana Bafana to the limit, before beating them 5-4 on penalties to advance to the semi-finals in which they will face Namibia today.
In all honesty, Mozambique demonstrated their tactical superiority, ability to take charge of the matches when moments dictate and their willingness to win games as a unit. They also showed their capability to win crucial games in unpopular fashion, and that should be enough to make the Brave Warriors wary of them.
But we also saw what the fairly young Namibian side can do once they get their groove on, and their commanding quarterfinals 2-0 win over Madagascar was again clear testimony of their effectiveness and ability to punch above their weight irrespective of who the opponent is. Make no mistake though, the young Namibians can and will punch above their weight if so needed.
But as per Tzu’s wise counsel, the Brave Warriors should first aim to win the match (by scoring goals early in the match), before going to war with the equally dangerous Mambas, and they can only achieve that by taking their goalscoring chances and making sure they avoid unwanted schoolboy errors.
The onus is on Namibian coach Collin Benjamin and his technical team to find strategies and ways on how to disarm the venomous Mambas, and I strongly believe that our boys have what it takes to break the backs of the marauding Mozambicans.
Go Brave Warriors; do it for the flag, do it for the nation!!
Until next time, sharp sharp!!