Hope for the Nation

The Brave Warriors 1-0 win over Mozambique on Tuesday night gives Namibians fans the much-needed hope of making it to the 2019 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals despite the date against Guinea Bissau next month will go a long way in confirming Namibia’s place among the elite on the continent.

After guiding his side to an unprecedented second win over Mozambique in four days and take their Group K tally to seven points, Coach Ricardo Mannetti reckons the AFCON is insight after the Tuesday night win.
“We have not qualified yet but have done ourselves proud indeed today. The players have shown that they deserve to be respected and they really have risen up. The fans today were fantastic and we now need to produce the same result against Guinea Bissau next month and get to the ten points which is our target to qualify,” says the teary Mannetti.
Namibia is now a force to reckon with on the continent. We won COSAFA in 2015 and then the Plate in 2016, qualified for the CHAN finals in 2018, and went all the way to the quarterfinals without a league in session and is a win away from making it to AFCON 2019 without a league.
The Warriors have proved them self and the players have given their all. Even some players that were on the sidelines have joined the project and are making significant contributions. These players make Mannetti a good coach and he does have a team with depth.
Namibia were dealt a heavy blow on 87 minutes as the impressive Denzil Haoseb received his second yellow and his marching order for apparent time wasting. Defender Charles Hambira came on for Shitembi to close shop in the five added minutes.
The next match day will see Namibia host Guinea Bissau and Mozambique play Zambia between 12-20 November before the final match-day in March 2019. The group winner and the runner-up will qualify for the 32nd edition of the Total African Cup of Nations to be played in Cameroon from 15 June to 13 July 2019.
The Brave Warriors starting lineup vs Mozambique was Virgil Vries, Tiberius Lombard, Denzil Haoseb, Riaan Hananub, Ananias Gebhardt, Petrus Shi-tembi, Ronald Ketjijere, Absalom Iimbondi, Willy Stephanus, Benson Shilongo, and Peter Shalulile.