The Brave Warriors won the bronze medal at the Four Nations Tournament in Luanda, Angola on Saturday after beating Zambia 4-3 on penalties after a goalless 90 minutes.
Namibia’s senior national team, comprised of only local-based players, participated in the Four Nations tournament to celebrate Angola’s 40 years of independence.
They lost their opening match 1-0 against Angola on Friday after Angolan striker Mbua scored the winning goal shortly before halftime. With Zambia, losing 3-0 to the DR Congo in their opening match, Namibia took on Chipolopolo for the bronze medal on Saturday, and after a goalless match, Namibia won the penalty shoot out 4-3.
Brave Warriors coach Ricardo Mannetti reckons the tournament was ideal for him and his players.
“The whole exercise was very good and from now on our players will become even better. To some it was the first time that they played for their country and they played against top nations. My aim was to see who is ready and who is not, and to try players at different positions than they play at club level. They did very well with the likes of Joslin (Kamatuka), Dynamo (Fredericks) and Jonas (Sakaria) all putting in good performances,” Mannetti said.
Mannetti said they lost to a better team in Angola on Friday but should have easily beaten Zambia on Saturday.
“We lost to a better team in Angola on Friday but we were the better side against Zambia and the game should never have gone to penalties – we had too many clear chances to kill the game,” he said.
The team returns home on Sunday at 15h30 and Mannetti will name his team tonight to play Guinea in a FIFA World Cup qualifier in Windhoek on Thursday, 12 November. – nfa.org.na
