Hesron Kapanga
Senior national football team coach Collin Benjamin believes that players who are called up for the national team must demonstrate honour, humility and respect for the call-up.
Benjamin made this comment in response to the recent incident, where Eeshoke Chula-Chula Football Club attacking midfielder Leevi Alfeus arrived two days late for the Brave Warriors training camp for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
The coach stated that he has now excluded Alfeus from the training camp, as he did not show any respect to the nation and his teammates.
“Representing one’s country should be about pride, honour and humility, and it is a great opportunity that many talented players aspire to, but only a few are chosen. Leevi’s reasoning for arriving late was not good enough; hence, we let him go from the training so he could work on his attitude towards his country and fellow players,” said Benjamin.
He added that he always keeps in contact with the players’ coaches regarding their progress at the club level before calling them up to the national team.
Alfeus’ late arrival showed that he is not a player who wants to represent his country, Benjamin said.
“Players who are called up to the national team are usually scouted through their clubs – and most young players stop training with their clubs once they get called up to the national team. If a player does not give their all at the club level, they will not be included in the national team,” he said.
Benjamin stated that Alfeus must go back to the drawing board, start training, work on his body and fitness, and show that he deserves to be recalled.
In an interview with Nampa on Monday, Ambrosius Tamhila, the chairperson of Eeshoke Chula-Chula, said the player’s lack of discipline caused him to arrive late for national duties.
“After our Sunday game against Life Fighter in Otjiwarongo, we asked Alfeus to travel to Windhoek and report for duty. However, he said he had some of his belongings in Oshikango and wasn’t prepared to travel. We then returned to the north, but instead of him coming back on Monday, he only showed up on Wednesday. It’s important to note that this delay had nothing to do with the club but it was entirely his own doing,” said Tamhila.
Namibia will play Equatorial Guinea and Sao Tome and Principe in 2023 for the 2026 International Federation of Association Football World Cup 2026 qualifiers, scheduled for 15 and 21 November 2023, respectively.
– Nampa