OKAY, Namibia’s dismal showing en route to the 2014 Fifa Africa World Cup qualifiers failed to yield any positives following the 1-0 defeat at the hands of Kenya’s Harambee Stars in Nairobi in the last preliminary match – courtesy of another goalkeeping blunder that has become part and parcel of the Brave Warriors unenviable legacy and self-inflicted and seemingly unending headache.
Yours truly must confess, the boys put up a great and gutsy performance on foreign territory. I must also confess that they were once again badly let down by poor goalkeeping for the umpteenth time. The result was out of our hands anyway after another goalkeeping error dearly cost us two valuable points that were certainly there for the taking, including a historic win over African champions Nigeria when a goalkeeping howler allowed the Super Eagles an undeserved equalizer in the dying minutes of the match. Yours truly is damn sure we all agree that we did not deserve to qualify since the slow start to our campaign that culminated in a home defeat to Malawi and the unfortunate draw against Nigeria complicated by another goalless draw against Malawi in Blantyre, all but signaled the end of our slightly far-fetched ambition to book a place in the last qualifying group of the global showpiece in Brazil next year.
From now onwards, football authorities should start putting their ducks in a row and carefully plan ahead for the next round of the biennial African Nations Cup (Afcon) qualifiers to be hosted by Morocco in 2015. Namibian football authorities should roll up their sleeves and find the much-needed funds to keep the current bunch in the Brave Warriors squad together and to mold them gradually into a formidable outfit. These boys under the stewardship of both Ricardo Mannetii and Ronny Kananelo have grown in stature as can be attested to by the fashion in which they led the tall and strong Kenyans on a merry-go-round in their own backyard, much to the amazement of the home crowd who demonstrated a spirit of exceptional sportsmanship by freely applauding the Warriors as they opened all cylinders in the final 20 minutes of an otherwise entertaining encounter.
Those in attendance at the giant and modern Kaserani Stadium in Nairobi were all in unison that a draw would have been a better reflection of the match that produced end to end stuff with two of the continent’s finest midfielders Victor Wanyama (Kenya) and Petrus Shitembi (Namibia) taking turns to showcase their genuine football virtuosity with the precision of Swiss watchmakers.
Yes, Mannetti and his technical team failed to achieve the impossible – that is to steer a relatively young and inexperienced bunch of amateurs to qualification for the global showpiece, but we should not start talking about sending the coach packing as such an act would be ill advised and suicidal, so to speak. As the adage goes it is not advisable to throw out the baby with the bathwater. It’s about time that the association (NFA) and its technical director Klaus Staerke, get serious about development and introduce a comprehensive technical master plan that will have the desired effect in the final analysis if we are to qualify for major events. Failure to progress beyond the opening round of the low-key CHAN competition on three attempts is a crystal clear indication that our flagship league is lagging far behind in terms of quality and the mental strength to compete at international level. There is an urgent need to put in place proper and genuine development football academies and clinics and to do away with the customary participation against provincial teams in Germany.
Finally, as long as we operate without an umbrella body for schools football, development will remain a pipe dream and thorny issue with the beautiful game enduring a slow death at school level. School football is a very important component of development and should be treated as such, unless we are comfortable in seeing the game become a delicacy for stray dogs. I rest my case.
By Carlos Kambaekwa