The Brave Warriors need to put points on the board today or run the risk of being cast adrift in the race for a ticket to the 2024 Africa Cup of Nations.
Namibia host Kenya in their second Group J qualifier at Orlando Stadium in Johannesburg, South Africa, which the Brave Warriors call home because of the ban on Namibia’s substandard facilities.
There’s no time to dwell on the perceived injustices of Saturday’s result when the Brave Warriors lost 1-0 away to Cameroon in a match that Namibia coach Collin Benjamin claims was determined by outside influences.
The Brave Warriors lacked cutting edge against Cameroon, spurning a number of scoring chances which could have swayed proceedings in their favour.
Benjamin is keen to right those wrongs today.
“Both teams are facing the chances of walking away with three points. It’s going to be a lot tactical in the sense that we’re expecting them to just sit deep and exploit their counter-attack that they’re actually really good at,” Benjamin says of Kenya’s likely approach to the clash.
He expects that the team will take heart from the positives against Cameroon and build on that against Kenya.
“It would have been a different case if we didn’t have a good showing in Cameroon. I think our team is alive. We defended with a lot of discipline, with a lot of energy, with a lot of aggression,” he says.
“There’s really no need for any panic buttons at all.”
Kenya coach Egin Firat feels Namibia’s loss means his side will have the upper hand today.
He expects the Harambee Stars to play better than on Friday when they eked-out a drab goalless draw against Zimbabwe.
The Turk is under pressure to deliver, having won only two of his nine competitive matches with Harambee Stars since his appointment in 2021
“The match against Namibia is a new game and we don’t know each other that much. They are known to have long runs and are very defensive, so we expect a tough game,” Firat says.
“The results of the match will depend on how their match against Cameroon goes. If we will all be at the same points by then, then we expect to be the better side,” he says.
Firat anticipates Namibia to be offensively set up, given home ground advantage in a frantic bid to beat Kenya – something Stars will seek to capitalise on.
“Namibia will play more offensively after losing to Cameroon, making everything easier for us. We intend to sit back and hit them on the counter,” he says.
The Brave Warriors will be up against Zimbabwe in their next two 2025 Afcon qualifiers in October, and will conclude their campaign with a home game against Cameroon and away to Kenya in November.
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