Despite all the unwanted brouhaha and political bickering about the team’s official new flashy T-shirts whose colours ‘coincidentally’ matched those of the ruling political party SWAPO, threatening to confuse a few hot-blooded politicians ahead of the Brave Warrior’s final preparation for the 2023 Afcon finals in Cote d’Ivoire, the Warriors remain unfazed.
Collin Benjamin’s fired-up soldiers are in an uncompromising mood, and look poised to fashion their first victory in the continental showpiece after nine (9) failed attempts. Namibia will be making her fourth appearance at the biannual continental showpiece, having made her debut in Burkina Faso in 1998, followed by three entrances in Ghana in 2008, Egypt in 2019 and now Ivory Coast.
Though debutants Warriors made a good impression in Burkina Faso, narrowly losing to this year’s hosts Ivory Coast in a seven-goal thriller, drawing against Angola before suffering a heavy defeat against big brother South Africa, they certainly left the tiny West African country with their heads held high.
On her second attempt, the Warriors suffered a heavy defeat in their opening match against Morocco but dusted themselves off, stretching the host nation (Ghana) to the limit before Michael Essien’s lone strike sealed their fate. The Warriors shared the spoils in their last group match against Guinea, thus exiting the tournament in the group stages.
The next stop was the pilgrimage of the Pharaohs. To be brutally honest, the Namibians were slightly ill-prepared for such an august gathering, and didn’t do justice to the hopes of the Namibian nation with their somewhat lukewarm display in Egypt, only to find themselves hurriedly bundled into the next available flight back home upon completion of the group stages.
As it stands, Namibia is yet to collect maximum points at the Afcon, but from what the author has observed, Benjamin has assembled a team that suits his game plan. The former Hamburger SC defender is certainly cooking something.
It’s all about tactics, and this is an area where Benjamin is not in short supply, having played in Deutschland for more than a decade. The former Brave Warriors all-rounder played his club football in the Bundesliga with and against some of the world’s finest talent, mentored by top coaches.
In him, we have an astute coach who knows the ins and outs of the beautiful game, and how to strategise and select the best suitable players to fit into his game plan. At times, you don’t have to play fancy football to win matches; the most important aspect is winning. Even if you have to play ugly football and bring glory to the nation, people will forget about the unattractive side of the coin.
‘Jerries’ are very good at that; the Bundesliga is not the most attractive league in world football to watch, but Germany is among the most successful teams when it comes to the big stage. Before I sign off, let me quickly wangle a phrase from former United States of America president Barack Obama.
“If you have to win a campaign by dividing people, you are not going to be able to govern them. You won’t be able to unite them later.” Football should be used as a unifier, not for cheap political gains. I rest my case.