Senior national football team coach Collin Benjamin said collecting a point against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon shows how hard his boys worked, and he is happy with the result.
Namibia’s Brave Warriors drew one all against Cameroon in their 2023 African Nations Cup (AFCON) qualifiers in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on Friday night.
The results mean that after two matches into their AFCON qualifiers, Namibia is second in the group with two points. Cameroon, are top of the group with four points, and Burundi is bottom of the group with one point.
In an interview with Nampa on Saturday, Benjamin said their dominant opponents disregarded them, and that played in their favour.
“The disregard which Cameroon had for us played to our advantage. They thought they will just come into this game and score goals easily. Cameroon has not lost a game at their stadium in Yaoundé for a while. This made them think they were just going to win the game against a team which is not a powerhouse in African football,” he said.
Benjamin added that it took a lot of effort from his team to play that game but he is hopeful they will regroup again for their Tuesday match.
“Confidence wise the boys know they held the best team in the continent which beat Brazil at the world cup to a draw and getting the point was very important for us. We are now going to regroup and hope for the best when we face them in South Africa (SA) on Tuesday,” Benjamin said.
He also said that Charles Hambira broke his collarbone in that match and will not be featuring in the return leg in South Africa.
“Charles is out. We just came from the hospital. We are now trying to get him out of the hospital so he can travel with the team back to South Africa. The operation they are planning on doing can be done in SA or at home in Namibia. His health is our priority at the moment,” he said.
Benjamin stated that Ananias Gebhardt who came in as a substitute for the injured Hambira did a good job in defence.
The return leg of the Namibia vs Cameroon match will be held at the Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg, SA on Tuesday, 28 March 2023 at 15h00.
Source: Namibia News Agency
