Warriors set for Togo clash

LIMBA MUPETAMIWINDHOEKNamibia seek to finish their 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign on a high with a victory over Togo at the Orlando Stadium that will secure them second place in their Group H.Top spot has long been won by Senegal, who will advance to the next stage of the qualifiers, with Namibia hoping to finish as the runners-up.The Brave Warriors of Namibia are locked on five points with second-placed Togo, but have an inferior goal difference, so nothing less than a win will see them leapfrog their opponents.The side is coming off a hard-fought 1-1 draw in Congo-Brazzaville on Thursday through a goal by striker Peter Shalulile. The Namibians could not hold on for the win though as Guy Kamboleke equalised for the Congolese.That goal was Shalulile’s fourth of the campaign, which puts him joint third on the scorers list for the preliminaries, three behind leader Islam Slimani from Algeria.Coach Bobby Samaria said the match against Congo was a thriller with action in both boxes.“They gave us some challenges with their speed and overload on their left wing luckily for us we had Ryan Nyambe on our right who in my opinion did very well to defuse the situation," Samaria said."We at times struggled to close them down quickly in the middle third but I think we did well in our offensive and combination play."Samaria also regrets the chances missed to take the three points."We were again not clinical with the chances that came our way. As much as the body must race the mind should remain calm. At the end we took the point and move on to the next one.”He added that they were never favourites in this group, “but the side ruffled some feathers and showed character and the willingness to fight on.“It's over for the World Cup race but we need to battle for second place in this tough group. It will still count for so much if we can manage that given the opponents we faced. We have our own special circumstances, and we can surely raise above that.“My players must give their all. We are looking at the future and increasing our pool of players ahead of new projects. So, we need to expose these players to the national team setup.“Togo is now on high morale after getting a draw against Senegal and they will come all out for a win against us more so after losing to us in the reverse fixture at their home, but we are ready for that and have our own game plan to finish off well.”He said they will use the fixture to gauge the development of the fringe players with emphasis on the younger crop.“It is important to see how they will do but I'm very optimistic from what I saw and they should be in position to stand their own.”Namibia’s only win in the pool came when they defeated Togo 1-0 in September, striker Elmo Kambindu got the goal on that occasion.That was the first meeting between the sides and Namibia’s only victory in their last seven internationals, though two of those defeats came against powerhouse Senegal.

Warriors set for Togo clash

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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Warriors set for Togo clash

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Namibian Sun 2025-05-02

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