Bafana Bafana seeking redemption against Warriors

BAFANA BAFANA jetted into Windhoek yesterday with high hopes of ending their goal-scoring famine when they face an upbeat Brave Warriors side in an international friendly match tonight.

The South African senior football side had a poor African Nations campaign, failing to reach the last stages of the tournament, and were ignominiously dumped out of the Cosafa Castle Cup by Botswana earlier this year. Bafana Bafana will be without their key hitman, Benni McCarthy.McCarthy has stayed in England because of club commitments.Still, Bafana will have surely sharpened their knives and be out to upset the Warriors.The South African side, which will be led by easygoing SuperSport United coach Pitso Mosimane, is however more star-studded than the Brave Warriors and shows how hungry they are for victory, irrespective of the importance of the match.Despite that, the two coaches, Mosimane and Namibia’s Ben Bamfuchile, tried to downplay today’s match, saying that the match would merely serve as preparation for their upcoming African Nations Cup ties next month.Mosimane said they would like a good result in Windhoek, but were more intent on winning their next match against Congo on September 2.”I won’t say that we don’t want to win this one, but we have to get a good result that can spur us on to do better in our next match,” he said.Bamfuchile, who will be in charge for only his third international match for Namibia, said he was looking at building a team that could be successful in the future.”We want to develop a team for the future.In order to find a formidable team that can bring in the needed results, we have to look at our history and correct the wrongs before we can start building for the future,” he said.None of the players in the current South African side have ever played against Namibia.In the Warriors squad, George Hummel, Robert Nauseb and Collin Benjamin have squared up against the South Africans in two Cosafa Cup matches as well as the African Nations Cup.Mosimane has named Mamelodi Sundowns defender Benson Mhlongo as his captain for the day, while Henrico Botes will be going for his fourth international cap as skipper for the Namibians.About 50 per cent of the South African players have turned out at this year’s African Nations Cup, while they also played during the Cosafa Castle Cup, compared to the Namibians who have only played two matches in the Cosafa Cup this year.The visitors have the upper hand in the tactical and technical approach to the game because of their professional league, while their foreign-based professionals complement them with the skills they have gained at that level.Nonetheless, the Namibians have home-ground advantage and with a massive turnout expected at the Sam Nujoma Stadium tonight, will have the full support of their fans.Bamfuchile is fielding mainly locally based players, saying that they needed the exposure and this match would be one where they could put themselves to the test against some of the finest players from the South African premiership.Namibia’s foreign legion includes Collin Benjamin from Germany’s Hamburg, who is making a welcome return after a two-year absence from the senior national team.Nauseb and Hummel have been around for the team and their input during the Cosafa Cup mini-tournament held in Windhoek showed that they can carry the team with their wealth of experience as seasoned players in the paid ranks.There are some exciting local footballers in the Namibian side and their performance in the domestic league has shown that they can rub shoulders with the best.Botes, generally a strong and deadly finisher in front of goal, will be the key to his side’s victory tonight, but he will need the support of his teammates and the whole nation for Namibia to record their third successive victory against the once-feared Bafana Bafana.Bafana Bafana will be without their key hitman, Benni McCarthy.McCarthy has stayed in England because of club commitments.Still, Bafana will have surely sharpened their knives and be out to upset the Warriors.The South African side, which will be led by easygoing SuperSport United coach Pitso Mosimane, is however more star-studded than the Brave Warriors and shows how hungry they are for victory, irrespective of the importance of the match. Despite that, the two coaches, Mosimane and Namibia’s Ben Bamfuchile, tried to downplay today’s match, saying that the match would merely serve as preparation for their upcoming African Nations Cup ties next month.Mosimane said they would like a good result in Windhoek, but were more intent on winning their next match against Congo on September 2.”I won’t say that we don’t want to win this one, but we have to get a good result that can spur us on to do better in our next match,” he said.Bamfuchile, who will be in charge for only his third international match for Namibia, said he was looking at building a team that could be successful in the future.”We want to develop a team for the future.In order to find a formidable team that can bring in the needed results, we have to look at our history and correct the wrongs before we can start building for the future,” he said.None of the players in the current South African side have ever played against Namibia.In the Warriors squad, George Hummel, Robert Nauseb and Collin Benjamin have squared up against the South Africans in two Cosafa Cup matches as well as the African Nations Cup.Mosimane has named Mamelodi Sundowns defender Benson Mhlongo as his captain for the day, while Henrico Botes will be going for his fourth international cap as skipper for the Namibians.About 50 per cent of the South African players have turned out at this year’s African Nations Cup, while they also played during the Cosafa Castle Cup, compared to the Namibians who have only played two matches in the Cosafa Cup this year.The visitors have the upper hand in the tactical and technical approach to the game because of their professional league, while their foreign-based professionals complement them with the skills they have gained at that level.Nonetheless, the Namibians have home-ground advantage and with a massive turnout expected at the Sam Nujoma Stadium tonight, will have the full support of their fans.Bamfuchile is fielding mainly locally based players, saying that they needed the exposure and this match would be one where they could put themselves to the test against some of the finest players from the South African premiership.Namibia’s foreign legion includes Collin Benjamin from Germany’s Hamburg, who is making a welcome return after a two-year absence from the senior national team.Nauseb and Hummel have been around for the team and their input during the Cosafa Cup mini-tournament held in Windhoek showed that they can carry the team with their wealth of experience as seasoned players in the paid ranks.There are some exciting local footballers in the Namibian side and their performance in the domestic league has shown that they can rub shoulders with the best.Botes, generally a strong and deadly finisher in front of goal, will be the key to his side’s victory tonight, but he will need the support of his teammates and the whole nation for Namibia to record their third successive victory against the once-feared Bafana Bafana.