Colin Benjamin hails PSL impact in Namibia’s transformation

By Velile Mnyandu
21st January 2024

With a total of nine players in the Namibian national team squad playing in South Africa, the Brave Warriors head coach Colin Benjamin has hailed the impact the Premier Soccer League (PSL) has played in the transformation of their team.

As he prepares to meet Bafana Bafana in a crunch Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Group E game at the Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium in Korhogo, Côte d’Ivoire, Benjamin says they cannot ignore the role the PSL has played to raise Brave Warriors standards.

READ: Hugo Broos compares Bafana Bafana-Namibia clash to Belgium and Holland rivalry

"Of course, we can't dispute that, it is the truth, it's there on paper and the South African league, not only for Namibian players is an integral part or an important part but it's also for Africans as a whole. The setup, resources, it's huge, it's unmatched probably on the continent so it is through that, that South Africa is a powerhouse,” Benjamin said.

“With that said obviously with these players that you mentioned, they wanna show the big brother or the uncle that's housing them that, see, you are doing something good and that's what we say that you are good, you are the favourites."

This will be the third meeting between the two Southern African neighbours at the AFCON, having previously met in 1998 in Burkina Faso and 2019 in Egypt.

On both occasions, Bafana ended victorious, but could this be the third time lucky for Namibia?

Politically the two countries are also very connected, as Namibia gained its independence in 1990 from the old Apartheid Nationalist government in SA.

As Benjamin says, any younger brother is always looking forward to upstaging the big brother.

"It's our big brothers, we look up to them and the younger brother always wants to be like the big brother and the younger brother wants to put some kind of an obstacle into the big brother's head but what we can say is preparation has really been rigorous for us,” Benjamin added.

“We spoke about our time in Ghana, basically spending time in camp. So, the dedication of the players really doesn't have any bounds. The players not only carry their own aspirations, they carry the aspirations of the entire nation. The hope of the entire nation. The dreams of an entire nation."