From the side line

WITH the football World Cup a thing of the past, focus will now firmly be placed on how Namibia’s Brave Warriors will do in the upcoming Cosafa Castle Cup.

The Cosafa Cup is at this stage the only premier event for southern African countries, as most countries from this part of the continent have generally been pathetic in both their Nations Cup and World Cup campaigns. The Cosafa Castle Cup, sponsored by the South African beer giant, SAB, has kept these countries in competition since 1997 and this is really commendable in the absence of any other tournament of that magnitude in the region.It is an example that other companies have for long failed to follow, and one only hopes that they will see how beneficial football can be if they are involved.The competition measures the strengths of the southern African teams and at the same time also exposes players to be snapped up by clubs – be it in the region or internationally.The competition is said to lack quality football since most of the professional players are not involved, but I think otherwise.The Cosafa Castle Cup should in fact be a tournament for the players who are based locally and they should use it as a stepping stone in building up their professional careers.The foreign-based players or professionals are welcome to boost their teams, but I believe that the locals should enjoy priority in being selected for their respective teams.In Namibia’s case, the current crop of local players in camp are good enough to take on their opponents when the tournament kicks off in Windhoek next Saturday.Namibia play against Seychelles in their first match and the winner will fight it out with either Zambia or Malawi the following day.Although it will be good to bring in three or four professionals to add a bit more value in terms of experience, the locals should be given the nod first.I know that coaches always want their best possible team on the field, but I would like to advise that at least 60 per cent of the players on the day should be from the domestic league.We have been watching these players and we know their strengths and weaknesses.Some lack international experience, but they need to start somewhere.Even new Brave Warriors coach Ben Bamfuchile was impressed with the talent of the local players and I truly hope that he believes in their abilities and is going to play them.Most of the local players have fewer than 20 caps for the national teams and a competition like the Cosafa Cup is a good platform for them to gain the needed experience.Going through to the semi-finals will be great for Namibia, as they are slowly moving down the Fifa rankings because of their inactivity on international level.Namibia has further moved down from 165 to 167.The Warriors are ranked at number 46 in Africa and falling at the first hurdle in the Cosafa Cup will be a total disgrace.They will then only have an opportunity to play on that level during the African Nations Cup qualifier against the DRC in September.The Warriors cannot afford to lose this time.Their biggest advantage is that it is their home turf and they will have the support of the local fans.The supporters have been yearning for a Brave Warriors victory for years now and this will be an opportunity for the national team to resurrect itself and live up to expectations.There is a new coach, the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) and the Government have availed the money and the team is said to be looking sharp.With this, there is no way that Namibia can compromise on the field of play – qualification for the semi-finals should be the ultimate goal.Although the new coach is running out of time to find the perfect combinations, this must not be an excuse, as he just needs to field the right players to do the job.The coach, who is highly regarded by his players, should guard against using players out of their positions, as this is one of the main reasons why teams lose.Players need to adapt – that’s why they constantly fail to connect when used out of position.The coach will, however, have the last say on who he selects and why.All that Namibia needs is to win this mini-tournament and let’s cut out the excuses.The Cosafa Castle Cup, sponsored by the South African beer giant, SAB, has kept these countries in competition since 1997 and this is really commendable in the absence of any other tournament of that magnitude in the region.It is an example that other companies have for long failed to follow, and one only hopes that they will see how beneficial football can be if they are involved.The competition measures the strengths of the southern African teams and at the same time also exposes players to be snapped up by clubs – be it in the region or internationally.The competition is said to lack quality football since most of the professional players are not involved, but I think otherwise.The Cosafa Castle Cup should in fact be a tournament for the players who are based locally and they should use it as a stepping stone in building up their professional careers.The foreign-based players or professionals are welcome to boost their teams, but I believe that the locals should enjoy priority in being selected for their respective teams.In Namibia’s case, the current crop of local players in camp are good enough to take on their opponents when the tournament kicks off in Windhoek next Saturday.Namibia play against Seychelles in their first match and the winner will fight it out with either Zambia or Malawi the following day.Although it will be good to bring in three or four professionals to add a bit more value in terms of experience, the locals should be given the nod first.I know that coaches always want their best possible team on the field, but I would like to advise that at least 60 per cent of the players on the day should be from the domestic league.We have been watching these players and we know their strengths and weaknesses.Some lack international experience, but they need to start somewhere.Even new Brave Warriors coach Ben Bamfuchile was impressed with the talent of the local players and I truly hope that he believes in their abilities and is going to play them.Most of the local players have fewer than 20 caps for the national teams and a competition like the Cosafa Cup is a good platform for them to gain the needed experience.Going through to the semi-finals will be great for Namibia, as they are slowly moving down the Fifa rankings because of their inactivity on international level.Namibia has further moved down from 165 to 167.The Warriors are ranked at number 46 in Africa and falling at the first hurdle in the Cosafa Cup will be a total disgrace.They will then only have an opportunity to play on that level during the African Nations Cup qualifier against the DRC in September.The Warriors cannot afford to lose this time.Their biggest advantage is that it is their home turf and they will have the support of the local fans.The supporters have been yearning for a Brave Warriors victory for years now and this will be an opportunity for the national team to resurrect itself and live up to expectations.There is a new coach, the Namibia Football Consortium (NFC) and the Government have availed the money and the team is said to be looking sharp.With this, there is no way that Namibia can compromise on the field of play – qualification for the semi-finals should be the ultimate goal.Although the new coach is running out of time to find the perfect combinations, this must not be an excuse, as he just needs to field the right players to do the job.The coach, who is highly regarded by his players, should guard against using players out of their positions, as this is one of the main reasons why teams lose.Players need to adapt – that’s why they constantly fail to connect when used out of position.The coach will, however, have the last say on who he selects and why.All that Namibia needs is to win this mini-tournament and let’s cut out the excuses.