A Glance at the Brave Warriors' Prospect

The Brave Warriors, Namibia's soccer team, had a superior performance during the last decade. In 1998 the Brave Warriors qualified for the African Cup of Nations in Burkina Faso. After that they have not qualified for any major tournaments. In spite of not qualifying for any major tournaments, the Brave Warriors' world rankings have improved in the recent months.

In July The Namibian reported that the team jumped up 13 positions on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings, moving from 128^th to 115^th position and from 35^th to 31^st position on the continent rankings. The Brave Warriors' rankings continue to improve. The Brave Warriors were ranked 101^st on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings in August.

The Brave Warriors' improvement in the rankings appear to be too little too late. Namibia did not qualify for the 2010 world cup in South Africa, nor did they qualify for the 2010 African Cup of Nations in Angola.

"The fact that they failed to qualify for 2010 [2010 world cup and the African Cup of Nations] is emblematic of the problem that soccer in Namibia has been experiencing for quite a while now," Armas Shikongo said.

Asked what he thought about the future of the Brave Warriors, Shikongo said: "Regarding their future performance, I cannot prophesy that; I can only wish that they improve, they are homeboys after all. When they do not succeed, it hurts our collective patriotic feelings and causes us to ignore them, which may demoralize them in turn."

Shikongo has lost faith in the Brave Warriors.

"I have recently lost faith in soccer in Namibia. I guess their constant failures, despite the few signs of improvement, are responsible for that. There seems to a big management and leadership problem, until that is resolved, I am not that optimistic," Shikongo said.

In September the Brave Warriors were described as not being brave enough, after they drew 1-all against Swaziland. The draw also cost the Brave Warriors in the world rankings; they dropped down 10 places in the latest rankings released October 16^th, Namibia is now ranked 111^th on the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Rankings.

According to the Namibia Sport Magazine: "Last month Namibia had climbed to its best position in more than 10 years at 101 in the world and was closing in on a Top 100 ranking, but their draw against Swaziland, which was ranked 50 places below Namibia, saw them dropping down to 111 in the world."

Hafeni Nashoonga is also disappointed with the Brave Warriors' performance.

"I've been watching the Brave Warriors in action for more than a decade now, but their performance to me has always been disappointing. I don't know who I should put the blame on, the top administration or coaches plus players. I really don't know what and where the weakness source for the Brave Warriors' is," Nashoonga said.

Asked what he thought about the team's improvement on the FIFA rankings, Nashoonga said: "about them having improved on the FIFA rankings doesn't make me smile at all, because other African countries more specifically Egypt are winning cup titles."

He continued by saying that: "Players are there, they seem so good on the field but they just don't win when it's most desperately needed. Yes, I am so optimistic that their FIFA rankings will continue to improve, where they are now is not where they gonna be in three to five years, I hope," [sic].

Nashoonga felt that the Brave Warriors were not getting the proper training.

"I think the kind of training that Brave Warriors are currently receiving is not 'tight' and sufficient, because they get tired easily during matches. They need more 'tighter' training," he said.

Namibia last played in the African Cup of Nations in 1998 in Burkina Faso, and has not played in a single world cup tournament.