WINDHOEK – Following a hard-fought but well deserved 2-1 victory over the visiting Les Sao of Chad on Wednesday at the Sam Nujoma Stadium, it is again back to the grinding stone for the Brave Warriors of Namibia as they face Guinea.

The Brave Warriors yesterday left for Conakry where they will face the National Elephants of Guinea this Sunday for their 2021 African Cup of Nations (Afcon) group stage qualifier at the Stade du 28 Septembre in Conakry. 

Boosting his chances against the determined Namibians, Guinea’s French coach Didier Six has included Liverpool midfielder and the National Elephants experienced skipper Naby Keita for the Namibia clash.
Keita, who was included in the 23-man squad to face Namibia, was originally included in the Guinea squad for last month’s friendlies but he was later removed from the list after Liverpool appeared ‘reluctant’ to release him. He missed the end of the Africa Cup of Nations in Egypt with injury and has suffered several minor problems this season.

But speaking to the media after Wednesday’s win over Chad, Warriors skipper Petrus Shitembi remained optimistic about the team’s chances against Guinea, saying the win over Chad proved that all is possible if they just dream on.

“It was a difficult match and we made it harder for ourselves than it was supposed to be. Collecting three points at home was the most important thing. We need to make our home ground a fortress. We need to collect as many points at home as we can,” he told Nampa.

The industrious left-footed Shitembi said it will be tougher collecting points away from home, which is why the good start was necessary, adding that he was proud of the team.

His views were echoed by Namibia’s England-based Ryan Nyambe, who made his home debut on Wednesday and paid tribute to the fans for welcoming him with open arms.

“I am very happy with the victory. I am happy to have played here, I enjoyed myself. The pitch made it a bit difficult, but I had to adapt. The mood and the spirit in camp is marvelous and we are looking forward to the next match,” he said.

Warriors interim coach Bobby Samaria said the team did not play well in the first half as they failed to trouble Chad. He added that Namibia is in a tough group which includes Guinea and Mali, hence the need to collect as many points as possible.

Samaria said they are going to Conakry with the aim of forcing a result and snatching a win so as to maintain their top position on the log. – Adapted from Nampa