Namibia coach Collin Benjamin has said his team’s opponents will need to be “really good” against the fourth-lowest ranked side at the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon).
Benjamin is expected to be among the national coaches in Abidjan for the Afcon draw, which takes place on 12 October, after leading the Brave Warriors to qualification for the first time since 2019.
“We’re going to have to be ‘brave warriors’ on that field,” Benjamin told Newsday on the BBC World Service.
Former Hamburg defender Benjamin, who is seeking Namibia’s first win at Afcon, feels his country has a point to prove at the finals, which start on 13 January, after a turbulent time in the Namibian domestic game.
“We didn’t have active football for three years and we were not able to play our matches at home,” he said.
“So it’s basically against all odds and everything was against us. It’s restoration for the country – it’s pride for the country, it’s pride for the players.”
Football came to a halt in Namibia after the end of the 2018-2019 domestic season because of a long-running and acrid dispute between the Namibia Football Association and the Namibia Premier League.
Football finally made its return in 2022 – but Benjamin faced a challenge when he succeeded Bobby Samaria as the head of the national team in June that year.
The lack of football had left players unfit, and the Confederation of African Football (Caf) declared the national Sam Nujoma Stadium was not up to international standard, so Namibia could not host any home matches.
Despite those challenges, Namibia will hope to progress beyond the group stages for the first time when they make their fourth Afcon appearance.
Government ‘has taken a backseat’
Namibia produced two memorable results against Cameroon in qualifying, holding the five-time Afcon champions to a 1-1 draw on 24 March before beating them 2-1 four days later.
They pipped Burundi to qualification and will join four other southern African nations in Thursday’s draw in Abidjan: South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique and Angola.
Benjamin believes there is still a long way to go before the Namibian government is ready to commit to investment in football.
“If I’m being honest, since we came back from the 2019 African Nations Cup in Egypt, the government has basically taken a backseat,” he said.
“They are not visible, they’re not around and I just obviously hope that, with us qualifying, we’re looking for that engagement with government now. I hope things will change.”
High hopes and tactical discipline
Several nations at Afcon 2023 will boast footballers from across Europe and the English Premier League, but Namibia’s players mainly play for South African clubs or in the local leagues.
Two of their current squad play in the Kosovo Super League, and defender Ryan Nyambe recently joined Derby County after being released by fellow English League One side Wigan Athletic.
“We have our fair share of players in the neighbouring countries and they are doing their best – they’re really good,” said Benjamin. “But we need to be prepared.
“What we’ve learned from the previous tournaments, especially going into the finals, is it’s about a lot of tactics – and we have to take the emotions out.
“It’s tournament soccer. It doesn’t have to be beautiful, it has to be effective. To be effective, you have to have a lot of discipline and to have discipline you need to put the work in.
“We need to go into camp a little bit earlier, work a little bit harder, jump a little higher and kick a bit higher than the rest.”
Benjamin played in the 2008 Afcon tournament and returned as an assistant coach in 2019.
If he is to take the Brave Warriors past the group phase for the first time, much depends on the hand they are dealt in Thursday’s draw.
“In southern Africa, we’re basically small boys, if you look at it in the context of the continent,” he said.
“We’re going to be courageous and we want to stamp our authority, saying ‘listen big boys – we’re sitting here on this table with you all and we want a piece of that bread. If you want to take all of it, you’d better be really good because we are prepared to take that fight on.'”
Teams are placed in pots for the draw based on their Fifa ranking, with Namibia in pot four alongside Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, Tanzania and The Gambia.
They could be drawn in a group with the highest-placed team on Fifa’s list, Morocco, who are ranked 13th and in pot one, while the teams in pot two include three-time champions Nigeria, whose most recent triumph came in 2013.
Former champions South Africa and Zambia are among their potential opponents from pot three in the draw, which will take place in Abidjan on 12 October at 19:00 GMT.
