Brave Warriors coach gutted, but positive
Football
Namibia's Brave Warriors were unable to cover ground on log leaders Tunisia following a 2-1 defeat to Malawi in Botswana on Friday.
The Brave Warriors’ hopes of qualifying for their first-ever FIFA World Cup suffered a huge setback following their defeat to Malawi in a crucial World Cup qualifier match on Friday.
It was Collin Benjamin’s charges’ first loss in the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification rounds, making their chances of qualifying much slimmer.
“It is not nice to lose a home match in the group, especially when the rest of the teams around you do well.
“We will have to analyse and get back to the drawing board in order to perform better,” Benjamin said.
Richard Mbulu scored the opener in the first half before Gabadinho Mhango doubled the lead in the second half to put his team in the driving seat with a two-goal cushion.
Namibia’s David Ndeunyema scored the only goal for the Warriors, ending the match in 2-1 in favour of Malawi.
After playing seven matches – three draws, three wins and one loss – Namibia remain second in group H with Tunisia leading the log.
“I think obviously the disappointment is there, mostly because we had a good game, we controlled the match and created a few clear chances, but we were unable to finish.
“The opponents managed to find the lead in the first five minutes because of a silly mistake we made and they capitalized on that but it’s normal,” Benjamin said afterwards.
The coach further commented on Namibia’s performance going ahead in the next three encounters
“We have to come down and analyse the situation. We have to work on minimizing the mistakes as we look forward to the Sao Tome match and we are the Brave Warriors, we are only out when the fat lady sings,” Benjamin said.
Namibia will host Sao Tome Principe at the Obed Ithani Chilume Stadium in Francistown, Botswana on Tuesday, 9 September 2025 at 15:00.
“We can surely not afford another slip-up and that is why we need to do better in the next match in order to keep our hopes alive.
“As a team we know that we have the ability to do better and our next opponents are a different challenge that we will take up with the aim of winning.”
Namibia’s starting eleven was: Edward Maova (goalkeeper), Charles Hambira, Kennedy Eib, Ngero Katua, Sergio Damaseb, Aprocius Petrus, Riaan Hanamub, Deon Hotto, Ivan Kamberipa, Peter Shalulile (captain), Joslin Kamatuka.
It was Collin Benjamin’s charges’ first loss in the FIFA World Cup 2026 qualification rounds, making their chances of qualifying much slimmer.
“It is not nice to lose a home match in the group, especially when the rest of the teams around you do well.
“We will have to analyse and get back to the drawing board in order to perform better,” Benjamin said.
Richard Mbulu scored the opener in the first half before Gabadinho Mhango doubled the lead in the second half to put his team in the driving seat with a two-goal cushion.
Namibia’s David Ndeunyema scored the only goal for the Warriors, ending the match in 2-1 in favour of Malawi.
After playing seven matches – three draws, three wins and one loss – Namibia remain second in group H with Tunisia leading the log.
“I think obviously the disappointment is there, mostly because we had a good game, we controlled the match and created a few clear chances, but we were unable to finish.
“The opponents managed to find the lead in the first five minutes because of a silly mistake we made and they capitalized on that but it’s normal,” Benjamin said afterwards.
The coach further commented on Namibia’s performance going ahead in the next three encounters
“We have to come down and analyse the situation. We have to work on minimizing the mistakes as we look forward to the Sao Tome match and we are the Brave Warriors, we are only out when the fat lady sings,” Benjamin said.
Namibia will host Sao Tome Principe at the Obed Ithani Chilume Stadium in Francistown, Botswana on Tuesday, 9 September 2025 at 15:00.
“We can surely not afford another slip-up and that is why we need to do better in the next match in order to keep our hopes alive.
“As a team we know that we have the ability to do better and our next opponents are a different challenge that we will take up with the aim of winning.”
Namibia’s starting eleven was: Edward Maova (goalkeeper), Charles Hambira, Kennedy Eib, Ngero Katua, Sergio Damaseb, Aprocius Petrus, Riaan Hanamub, Deon Hotto, Ivan Kamberipa, Peter Shalulile (captain), Joslin Kamatuka.
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