Team Profile: Namibia have only been an active members of the African football family for the last 15 years yet will be making their second trip to the MTN Africa Cup of Nations finals.
The Brave Warriors were surprise qualifiers for the 1998 edition in Burkina Faso and again upset the form book when they finished above the Democratic Republic of Congo and Libya in the Group 10 standings.
Namibia achieved their progress to the finals with just one win at home in the qualifiers but snatched an improbable away win in Ethiopia with the last kick of the game to secure their place at the 2008 MTN Africa Cup of Nations finals in Ghana.
Namibia might be one of the larger countries on the African continent in terms of land mass but its population is under 2-million, leaving a small catchment pool of footballers for coach Ben Bamfuchile to select from.
The Zambia coach has previous experience at the MTN Africa Cup of Nations with his own country but has become a major hero in Namibia with his remarkable achievement in qualifying the team.
Namibia’s best known player Razundura Tjikuzu played no part in the qualifiers after a fall out with the coach but might still return for the finals in Ghana.
Collin Benjamin, who plays in the German Bundesliga, is also back from a knee operation after missing the vital part of the qualifiers.
Namibia has a sizeable contingent of players competing for clubs in neighbouring South Africa.
Star Player
Player Profile:
Collin Benjamin
Collin Benjamin slowly climbed up his way to the top flight of European football, moving from Namibia to play amateur football in Germany before being spotted by Bundesliga giants Hamburger SV.
Benjamin made his international debut one match after Namibia’s last appearance in the MTN Africa Cup of Nations finals in 1993 but his number of caps is just nudging up to 30.
He has been set back by a long list of injuries, the last of which was a knee complaint that needed an operation at the same time
as Namibia were qualifying for the 2008 MTN Africa Cup of Nations.
The 29-year-old Benjamin is, however, expected to have fully recovered for the finals in Ghana.
The 29-year-old, who can play both as a defensive or offensive midfielder, started his career at Civics in Windhoek before moving to Germany, where his first club was ), Germania Schnelsen before going onto Rasensport Elmshorn and then Hamburg in January, 2001.
