Maqonda Ndlovu
Brave Warriors head coach Collin Benjamin says Namibia has to learn to be ‘brutal’ against their opponents for them to win matches.
Speaking to New Era Sport yesterday from the team’s training base in Agadir, Morocco, Benjamin said the team has used the time to prepare properly for the second match of the 2026 International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) African World Cup qualifiers against São Tomé and Príncipe.
The match is taking place today.
“We are going into the game against São Tomé, having done our homework in analysing the previous game against Equatorial Guinea. We identified the positives and negatives. We know we created enough chances away from home. We also know that we failed to take our chances,” he said.
He added that against Guinea, Namibia could have scored at least two goals, but the missed chances allowed the opponents to grow their confidence.
Namibia lost one-nil to Equatorial Guinea but missed a host of clear-cut chances, which could have produced a different result.
The confidence saw them put the Brave Warriors under pressure, which resulted in a goal, following a few mistakes from the defenders.
“We are not brutal enough in taking our chances, and we are also very harmless in allowing opposition into our half to win so many set pieces. We don’t defend these set pieces well. São Tomé lost 4-0 against group favourites Tunisia.
On paper, it may look like it’s an easy game. But there are no easy games in Africa. We need to go with the same motivation we had against Guinea. We have to want it more – run more, jump more and attack more,” he said, adding that the team needs to balance their attack and defence while minimising the set pieces they concede.
He said it is important to win this match because they will make a couple of changes to give as many players a chance to fight for the Africa Cup of Nations team positions.
“We also had a target to collect three or four points, and we are also playing for Namibia pride. We are hungry enough to achieve these targets,” he explained.
Benjamin said they had a few players out with injuries, but they had managed them well – and all the players resumed training on Monday morning. These included Deon Hotto, who was out for two days with some shoulder discomfort.
Lloydt Kazapua and Rayne Nyambe were fighting groin problems, and Petrus Shitembi complained of a hamstring problem.
The former Brave Warriors captain said his squad was motivated enough to come up with a victory against São Tomé today.