Namibia’s senior cricket team, The Eagles, arrived home to a heroes’ welcome when they touched down at the Hosea Kutako International Airport on Wednesday morning.

Namibia played eight matches and won three at the ongoing T20 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates, finishing fifth in the Super 12 group stages.

The team was met by family, friends, school children and officials from the Namibia Sports Commission (NSC).

Speaking at the arrival ceremony, NSC’s Freddy Simataa Mwiya said the team had done Namibia proud by competing with the best in the world.

“You guys have made history for this country, 30 years of team sport and you are the first team to win three matches. Most of our teams usually go to such tournaments just to participate,” he said.

He added that cricket is one sport that has been earmarked to be professionalised, and they have already proven they can handle the pressure which comes with that.

Cricket Namibia (CN) president Rudie van Vuuren said the Eagles team is now defined as sports legends.

“When you left, we spoke about playing for the 2.5 million Namibians, especially the 3 564 Namibians who succumbed to COVID-19. Let us never forget our strength as a nation like the way we unite behind a cause. We are small but we are strong together,” he told the players.

Van Vuuren added that as CN the success by the team has brought new challenges and they will now conduct an ‘autopsy’, recalibrate and re-strategise to take Namibian cricket to another level.

“We will take cricket in this country to a new level, a level where the game is globally competitive, fully inclusive and where we run CN with a culture of excellence, to be the number one sport in this country,” he said.

CN Chief Executive Officer Johan Muller was full of praises for the team for their achievements at the World Cup.

“We beat every single associate member country at the World Cup and we have already qualified for next year’s T20 World Cup in Australia. This will give us some sort of stability when it comes to international playing opportunities for the team,” he said.

He also said the team has now improved its international rankings.

Going forward, besides stability in playing international matches, the team’s performance now requires CN to get more foreign direct investment from international sponsorship to guarantee financial stability, Muller said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency