National senior football team coach Collin Benjamin said three of the players who started against Cameroon in their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers in March this year, will miss out in their final match due to injuries.
Namibia is currently at the top of Group C of the 2023 Ivory Coast AFCON qualifiers with five points. They only need a point from their next match against Burundi on 22 June 2023 to reach the AFCON finals.
In an interview with Nampa, Benjamin said his squad has been hit with a few injuries, but he is confident other players will do the work.
“From the 11 players that started in the Cameroon games in March, we have two that are out, Deon Hotto is fighting with a groin issue and ankle injury, and Prins Tjiueza pulled a ligament during the play-offs at his club,” he said.
The coach added that centre-back Denzil Haoseb is also a doubt as the player is nursing a knee injury.
“With these players injured it allows others to step up. I am confident that we can still get the right attitude and formation to pull this off. This will be one of the most important games the Brave Warriors will compete in over the last four years, so we should not have any other excuses,” Benjamin said.
Benjamin noted that the training camp with the locally based players has been going well, with a focus on fitness.
“The players are showing good commitment, as a technical team we are impressed with their professionalism. The foreign-based players will only start on Saturday, and we will have a week to go before travelling to Burundi,” he said.
With the senior Council of Southern African Football Association (COSAFA) Cup also scheduled immediately after the AFCON qualifiers, the coach said they have a bigger pool of players to represent the country and at the moment all their focus will be on the AFCON qualifiers.
“One cannot dance two weddings at the same time. Therefore we are focused on the Burundi squad and tactics as well as formation, because this is the only time that some of these players will represent the country at an AFCON if we qualify,” he said.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
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