The historic feat achieved by the Brave Warriors of Namibia of reaching the knockout stages of the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations in Cote d’Ivoire is safely stored in the history books of Namibian football.
This is according to head coach and former captain, Collin Benjamin when asked about his team’s preparations for this week’s upcoming FIFA World Cup Qualifiers and whether they will be drawing inspiration from that.
The Namibians sent shockwaves across the continent earlier this year when they stunned favourites Tunisia with a 1-0 win and holding Mali to a goalless draw to secure a historic berth into the knockout stages of the competition for the first time in their history.
With that achievement, the team raised eyebrows across the continent and have since maintained their competitive edge as they lead Group H after an awarded win over Equatorial Guinea and a 2-0 win over Sao Tome Principe.
Speaking to CAFOnline ahead of their upcoming fixtures against Liberia and Tunisia, Benjamin said it was great for the team to rewrite the Namibian football history books, but that achievement was behind them, and that a new and tougher challenge was now in front of them.
“I think that is behind us. It is totally behind us. I think the boys did good, the entire team and technical staff did well. They created a little bit of history for the country, which is really great for Namibian football, but this is now something that is definitely behind us. The cards are new, and it is a new challenge for us that we are facing against Liberia and Tunisian. Our performance obviously makes the teams wary of us and so we know that it will be even harder than it was before. For us, we just focus and work on making our country proud”, said the former captain.
With four TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations appearances to their name, Namibia are yet to make an appearance at the FIFA World Cup, something the coach says they are dreaming of but have to take it one game at a time.
“I think the nation and everyone out there can dream. We are on the ball right now and it is a lot of work that needs to be done right now before we can even think of that. Sweat, tears and maybe blood will be required. We have to take it game by game. Improve the players, improve the team and it’s important that we keep giving it our all and have successful matches for our country Namibia and the Brave Warriors”, concluded the coach to CAFOnline.