Namibia: Warriors in Upbeat Mood

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The Namibian (Windhoek)

10 October 2008
Posted to the web 10 October 2008

Corry Ihuhua

BRAVE Warriors skipper Collin Benjamin says the players have grown accustomed to each other and he expects them to dispatch Zimbabwe with ease when the two nations square up in a 2010 World Cup/African Nations Cup qualifier at the Independence Stadium tomorrow.

Kick-off is at 16h00.

Benjamin expressed confidence in his team-mates, saying that the current crop of players have been playing together for some time now and he is positive about a good result on match day.

"The way we enjoy ourselves at training shows that we have grown in confidence and that can also be seen from the positive atmosphere that prevails in the team.

The players are more relaxed, they believe in their abilities and know what is expected of them.

I think all these positive signs will carry us through and contribute to our success," he said.

Benjamin, an attacking midfielder who is one of the most senior players in the side alongside defenders George Hummel, Hartman Toromba and midfield genius Quinton Jacobs, also thinks that since the African Nations Cup earlier this year, they have developed into credible players and trust each other more.

"We have a good side at the moment and the coach has been supportive in many aspects.

We have really grown into a competitive unit," he said.

Warriors head coach Tom Saintfiet said he has no doubt in the abilities of the players he has chosen for what could be possibly be their last match of the year.

"I am very satisfied with the attitude, the confidence, atmosphere in the camp and I am confident that we can beat Zimbabwe, but it will not be an easy job.

It will be a difficult task, but one thing I know is that my players will go out there and fight to the best of their abilities," he said.

TACTICS THE SAME Saintfiet said he will use the same tactics and have the same approach as in the previous games, but will of course not disclose what could be his secret weapon to outplay the visitors and ultimately get a win.

"Every game for us is important and we want to give the public something to be proud of.

They key here is to win at home because the fans like to be associated with a winning team.

It is also does not matter to play good football as long as you win.

At this point, I believe the quality of the players we have are capable of doing just that," said the 35-year-old Belgian mentor.

He said during the Kenya match in which Namibia lost 1-0, Kenya had 60 per cent ball possession and Namibia had 40%, but Namibia had more shots on target compared to Kenya.

This according to him shows that the players go forward and create goal-scoring opportunities.

He said he does not care whether a team has ball possession, but the important thing is what they players can do with the possession.

STATISTICS Namibia are currently placed at the bottom of Group 2 with 3 points from their five matches.

The Warriors have won 2-1 against Kenya at home, lost 2-0 to Zimbabwe away, lost 2-1 to Guinea at home and lost 1-0 to Kenya away.

Zimbabwe is second from the bottom with six points from their five matches and in their first match drew 0-0 against Guinea, beat Namibia 2-0, lost 2-0 to Kenya and drew 0-0 against Kenya and then pulled another 0-0 draw against Guinea.

Namibia have only scored 3 goals in their five matches and have conceded a whopping 10, while Zimbabwe have scored 2 and conceded only 2 in the same number of matches.

Namibia have lost 4 of their 5 recent encounters, while Zimbabwe have lost only 1 of their 5 recent matches.

Namibia are ranked 126th in the world and Zimbabwe are on 91 according to the Fifa world rankings of October 8, while in Africa, Namibia are 34th and Zimbabwe on position 26.

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