The Brave Warriors know that they are due a positive result against São Tomé and Príncipe today, following defeat to Equatorial Guinea in their opening 2026 Fifa World Cup qualifier last week.
That much is not up for debate, said defender Riaan Hanamub ahead of the Group H clash in Agadir, Morocco.
São Tomé were beaten 4-0 by Tunisia on Friday, while Namibia lost 1-0 to Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday.
The results left Namibia second last and today’s opponent bottom of the standings.
Namibia were again undone by a lapse in defence, while they failed to capitalise on scoring chances that came their way in Malabo.
“As a sports person, you should never get your head down after a defeat, you should keep your head high and just continue working hard in training and obviously try to implement what the coach is trying to drill in us, and I think it will pay off,” Hanamub said.
The Falcons and True Parrots of São Tomé were heavy underdogs against Tunisia and so it proved as the north Africans cruised to victory.
Currently the fourth-lowest ranked African nation, the west coast islanders are not expected to pose the Brave Warriors much discomfort either.
It remains to be seen if they will have enough in the tank for Namibia after putting on a mighty shift to keep the score respectable against Tunisia’s Carthage Eagles.
Also today, group leaders Tunisia are away to a buoyant Malawi side which edged Liberia 1-0 on Friday, with the latter at home to Equatorial Guinea.
Hananub believes the Brave Warriors can post their first points on board with a disciplined and sharper effort.
That was the difference between them and the Nzalang Nacional on Wednesday.
“We had lots of positives in the game. We’re creating chances, it was just a matter of us converting them. We hope that today it will be different. The commitment from everyone was top notch and the hard work also,” said the experienced left-back.
“I think we should take all the positives into the next game and obviously dust off the negatives, like conceding the goal against Equatorial Guinea,” Hanamub said.
“So, we need to bring our A-game. If we don’t concede, we have a better chance of winning the match.
“I would like the supporters to rally behind us and not to give up. Because we’re trying our best. Their support is really appreciated.”
Stand-in Namibia captain Ananias Gebhardt said they needed to put last weeks’ disappointment behind them and focus on the task ahead.
“It’s a small setback but we’re not down and out. We’ll give it our all and march on to make sure that we get the best possible result.”
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