SAN PEDRO: Brave Warriors head coach Collin Benjamin has said the senior national football team will not depend on other teams to help them qualify for the next round of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Benjamin said this during a media conference ahead of their game against Mali at the Stade Laurent Pokou in San Pedro.

The Brave Warriors coach stated that his team is focused and will give it their best.

‘As a team, we have control over our fate in this competition and we cannot wait for others to do us a favour,’ he said.

Benjamin added that the strengths of his team are unity, resilience, speed, hunger, and pride for their nation, therefore they will step onto the field and give everything with the hope of reaching the next round of the qualifiers.

Benjamin also expressed his admiration for the infrastructure and resources in Ivory Coast, which he considers to be some of the best in Africa.

‘It is a beautiful tournament and it is a great time to be alive as our continent is growing at the level where we hav
e sporting infrastructure as those in Europe,’ he said.

Meanwhile, team captain Peter Shalulile said he is happy and blessed to be part of an awesome team at the competition. He hopes that his goal drought at the competition will come to an end soon but emphasised that for now, it is not about him, but about the team.

‘As a player there are times when you struggle to score, but at the moment, it’s not about me. We are a team and we have other talented players who can make our country proud,’ he said, adding that their current focus is on tomorrow’s game against Mali.

Shalulile expressed his pride in captaining the team as they are focused despite coming from a country that did not have a league for a while. He praised the players for being mentally strong and determined to fight.

Namibia is currently third in their group, tied on three points with second-placed South Africa, while Mali leads the group with four points. Tunisia is at the bottom with a single point. Namibia’s last group game will be against
Mali at 19h00 in San Pedro on Wednesday.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency