The Brave Warriors take on Liberia in a Fifa World Cup qualifier today in the unaccustomed position of top of the log and in with a growing chance of qualifying for the 2026 Fifa World Cup.
With Fifa having nearly doubled the African qualifiers for the world cup from five to a record nine, the winners of each of the nine qualifying groups will now qualify directly for the 2026 Fifa World Cup, due to be held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
Besides that, the four best runners-up will also have an outside chance of reaching the Fifa World Cup, as they will be involved in a play-off competition, with the winner going through to a final World Cup qualifier - the Inter-confederation play-offs - where the top two teams will qualify for the world cup.
And as if that is not enough, Namibia's chances received a major boost when Equatorial Guinea were penalised for using an ineligible player, Emilio Nsue, in their opening matches against Namibia and Liberia, with the result that Namibia's original 1-0 defeat in Malabo on 15 November last year (where Nsue scored the winner) has now been changed to a 3-0 victory.
Coupled with their 2-0 victory against Sao Tome e Principe six days later, Namibia have now jumped to the top of the log on six points, along with group favourites Tunisia, who beat Sao Tome e Principe 4-0 and Malawi 1-0 in their opening two matches.
But besides the boardroom machinations, Namibia have also improved considerably under coach Collin Benjamin over the past year and the holy grail of reaching the world cup - a feat that Namibia has never achieved, is now not so fanciful anymore.
Under Benjamin they qualified for their fourth Afcon finals in history, after beating African powerhouses, Cameroon, and at the finals in the Ivory Coast they stunned Tunisia with a 1-0 victory and drew against Mali to reach the last 16 knockout stages for the first time in history.
As such, their Fifa ranking has also improved to 23rd in Africa and 106 in the world, and on paper at least, they will start as the favourites against Liberia, who are ranked 46th in Africa and 152 in the world.
Liberia lost their opening qualifier 1-0 to Malawi, but were also awarded points against Equatorial Guinea and now lie third on the log on three points.
Liberia, however, hold the upper hand against Namibia historically, with one win and one draw in their only two encounters so far.
Benjamin not getting carried away
Benjamin, meanwhile, refused to get carried away by their recent results at Afcon 2023 and remained focussed on the task at hand.
"I think that is behind us. It is totally behind us. I think the boys did good, the entire team and technical staff did well. They created a little bit of history for the country, which is really great for Namibian football, but this is now something that is definitely behind us. The cards are new, and it is a new challenge for us that we are facing against Liberia and Tunisian. Our performance obviously makes the teams wary of us and so we know that it will be even harder than it was before. For us, we just focus and work on making our country proud", he told cafonline.com in an article published on Monday.
Namibia warmed up with a 1-1 draw against Lesotho in Johannesburg on Saturday, with Benjamin giving several newcomers a run like Erastus Kulula, Ndjiraeree Maharero, Ben Namib, David Ndeunyema, Moses Shidolo, Lawrence Doeseb and Kleophas Useb.
Kulula opened the scoring for Namibia, but Lesotho defender Motlomelo Mkhwanazi equalised as the two sides had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
Afterwards, Benjamin said it was a good exercise.
"It was a good test where we could give these young players a good run against a good international team. The way Lesotho could come and play from the back that was really impressive and its something that we have to work on because we need to make it more difficult for our opponents to build up so easily from the back," he said.
Kalula, meanwhile, said it was great to score on his debut.
"The intensity at national level is high and the games are very fast. It was a good experience overall and scoring on my debut was definitely a confidence booster. There are still a few things we need to work on as a team, but the entire coaching staff has been really helpful and pushing us to our limits and I appreciate that," he told nfa.org.na.
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Star striker Peter Shalulile is, however, a doubtful starter as he is still nursing an injury which kept him out of Saturday's Nedbank Cup final, and Amazulu defender Riaan !Hanamub is expected to captain the side. He said yesterday that they are well prepared and ready for the match.
"We have been prepared well so we as players should just apply ourselves well to make sure that we execute the coach's plan accordingly and I think with the desire, the bravery and commitment and the never say die attitude I think we can make it difficult for them," he said.
"Liberia has some big giants in their squad whereas us Namibians we are not as big, but I think we do have some qualities that can help us dominate the game and eventually win it come the final whistle," he added.
Today's match starts at 18h00 at the Orlando Stadium in Soweto, while another Group H match sees Tunisia hosting Equatorial Guinea at 21h00 in Rades.
