Senior national football team coach, Collin Benjamin, has said Namibia should be prepared for a challenging draw for the 2023 African Nations Cup (Afcon) finals.

The draw for the 2023 TotalEnergies Afcon finals, which will be hosted in Ivory Coast in January 2024, is scheduled to take place in Cairo, Egypt on Friday.

In an interview with Nampa on Tuesday, Benjamin said the teams in pot four, including Namibia, will be drawn against some of the best teams in the continent from pots one, two or three.

‘With good preparation, I believe the team can perform better. It’s important to not worry about who we are drawn against but instead, focus on preparation,’ he said, while stating that there is a need for sufficient funds to be allocated for the national team to prepare adequately for the competition.

Benjamin further added that finding suitable spaces for camping and training is a priority at the moment.

‘With a budget at our disposal, the team will decide on the best location for the camp. With better
preparation, we can possibly perform better than in the previous edition of the tournament,’ he stated.

The 24 teams that have qualified for the 2023 Afcon finals are Algeria, Angola, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Cote d’Ivoire (hosts), DR Congo, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal (title holders), South Africa, Tanzania, Tunisia, and Zambia.

Source: Namibia Press Agency