IT is slowly but surely becoming apparent that the Brave Warriors are back in the business of scoring goals and competing evenly against any given opposition.
Their recent match against the Democratic Republic of Congo in which they lost 3-2 is in itself a result that showed that the team is competitive and no pushovers, although they played on foreign soil. The Warriors have improved with each game since the Cosafa Castle Cup held in Windhoek about a month ago and it is now becoming clear that they are destined for a further upswing in their performance.Despite their loss to DRC, the result reflects the reality in terms of the competitive nature of the players, while it also shows that, despite the few international matches Namibia had compared to DRC, the team has achieved a lot in a short space of time under their new coach, Ben Bamfuchile.The most important aspect for both the coach and the players now is to keep momentum in their next encounters.The players seem to have settled well into the positions that have been assigned to them, although I do not agree with some, but that should be the basis of any team to be able to perform satisfactorily.Players generally hate to be played out of position, but modern football leaves players with no chance but to be versatile.The Warriors will next play a match against Ethiopia in Windhoek on October 7 or 8, and not a return leg against the DRC as reported earlier.The return leg against DRC will only be played next year in June (16,17).Namibia still has to play Libya on a home-and-away basis in March (24, 25) and June (2, 3) next year before hosting DRC.Both Libya and Ethiopia are not strong football nations, but cannot be underestimated.Namibia has a relatively young team of which about 70 per cent of the players have not even accumulated more than 10 caps on international level.It will be good for the team to play as many friendly matches as possible to get comfortable with each other and for the coach to have a wide selection.The selection of players for the national team will of course be boosted with the resumption of the Namibia Premier League (NPL), which has not started yet.In all honesty, Bamfuchile has not yet seen many potential players in action that can make the national team grade and the kick-off of the league will be of great help in him assembling as many players as he can to try them out ahead of these important qualifiers for especially the African Nations Cup.Logically, the national under-23 team will be the side that will turn out in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers and the Nations Cup, which will both be held on our doorsteps.The under-23 side has a lot of skilful players and their coach Bobby Samaria has moulded them well and qualifying for the 2008 Olympics will not be a monumental challenge if they all pull their weight.Congratulations to Angola, who have won the rights to host the 2010 Nations Cup.This means Namibian football authorities have to do a lot in preparing the best possible sides for the two tournaments.At the moment, the Brave Warriors have demonstrated that they can go a long away, provided that the players stay focused and eliminate indiscipline at all costs.No coach would want to be troubled by players who disobey his instructions and who think they are bigger than the game.A word of warning should go to all who are selected for the Warriors that it is not their team, but it belongs to the nation and all they need to do is to perform to the best of their abilities, bring in good results, make themselves proud and keep the nation happy.Another important issue that could spur on the performance of the players in the senior team would be to give them incentives for matches they win, especially if they happen to qualify for the Nations Cup.The NFA could source funds to compensate players and the coach for this, like in South Africa, where players would share N$10 million if they qualify for the Nations Cup.Namibia has the resources for this kind of initiative, but some companies are just too stingy to put their money where their mouths are.The Warriors have improved with each game since the Cosafa Castle Cup held in Windhoek about a month ago and it is now becoming clear that they are destined for a further upswing in their performance.Despite their loss to DRC, the result reflects the reality in terms of the competitive nature of the players, while it also shows that, despite the few international matches Namibia had compared to DRC, the team has achieved a lot in a short space of time under their new coach, Ben Bamfuchile.The most important aspect for both the coach and the players now is to keep momentum in their next encounters.The players seem to have settled well into the positions that have been assigned to them, although I do not agree with some, but that should be the basis of any team to be able to perform satisfactorily.Players generally hate to be played out of position, but modern football leaves players with no chance but to be versatile.The Warriors will next play a match against Ethiopia in Windhoek on October 7 or 8, and not a return leg against the DRC as reported earlier.The return leg against DRC will only be played next year in June (16,17).Namibia still has to play Libya on a home-and-away basis in March (24, 25) and June (2, 3) next year before hosting DRC.Both Libya and Ethiopia are not strong football nations, but cannot be underestimated.Namibia has a relatively young team of which about 70 per cent of the players have not even accumulated more than 10 caps on international level.It will be good for the team to play as many friendly matches as possible to get comfortable with each other and for the coach to have a wide selection.The selection of players for the national team will of course be boosted with the resumption of the Namibia Premier League (NPL), which has not started yet.In all honesty, Bamfuchile has not yet seen many potential players in action that can make the national team grade and the kick-off of the league will be of great help in him assembling as many players as he can to try them out ahead of these important qualifiers for especially the African Nations Cup.Logically, the national under-23 team will be the side that will turn out in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers and the Nations Cup, which will both be held on our doorsteps.The under-23 side has a lot of skilful players and their coach Bobby Samaria has moulded them well and qualifying for the 2008 Olympics will not be a monumental challenge if they all pull their weight.Congratulations to Angola, who have won the rights to host the 2010 Nations Cup.This means Namibian football authorities have to do a lot in preparing the best possible sides for the two tournaments.At the moment, the Brave Warriors have demonstrated that they can go a long away, provided that the players stay focused and eliminate indiscipline at all costs.No coach would want to be troubled by players who disobey his instructions and who think they are bigger than the game.A word of warning should go to all who are selected for the Warriors that it is not their team, but it belongs to the nation and all they need to do is to perform to the best of their abilities, bring in good results, make themselves proud and keep the nation happy.Another important issue that could spur on the performance of the players in the senior team would be to give them incentives for matches they win, especially if they happen to qualify for the Nations Cup.The NFA could source funds to compensate players and the coach for this, like in South Africa, where players would share N$10 million if they qualify for the Nations Cup.Namibia has the resources for this kind of initiative, but some companies are just too stingy to put their money where their mouths are.
