Muinjo hails Zimbabwe''s toughnessZimbabwe is the only country from the Cosafa region to qualify for the 2017 African Cup of Nations, which proves their mental strength, former Namibian football boss John Muinjo says. Former NFA boss says Cosafa teams need to play more matches The 2017 edition of the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) will see only one team from the Council of Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa). Zimbabwe is the region’s sole representative after managing to reach the tournament for the third time.The outcome has posed questions about the strength of footballers in the region.
Former Namibia Football Association (NFA) president John Muinjo, who serves as an executive member of the Cosafa committee, said the issue is not just about the strength of the teams because the national teams in the region do not play enough international matches.
“Apart from the Cosafa competition, teams in Southern Africa do not play many games overall and not too many players feature in European leagues or similarly play friendly matches against strong African teams from West or North Africa where governments support those activities,” he told Namibian Sun on Monday.
But Zimbabwe has made strides in making sure that they are not hampered by the lack of international matches by focusing on their mentality, he said.
“African football needs players to be physically and mentally strong. Zimbabwe is one team that might go and do well at Afcon because of those attributes; [judging by the] way they played a physical game against Guinea yesterday,” he said of a match Zimbabwe lost 1-0 on Sunday.
“Most players in the Zimbabwe squad ply their trade abroad and they are regulars for their clubs,” he added.
The rest
Muinjo also mentions a lack of cohesion as another reason why the Cosafa teams did not fare well in the 2017 Afcon qualifiers.
He used the example of the Brave Warriors to illustrate the importance of cohesion in a team.
“When Namibia qualified for the first Afcon in 1998, we played 21 matches altogether and that was more than enough exposure and competitiveness for the team to have had cohesion and fluidity.
“Similarly, sustainable development at age level should continue with additional physical enrolment at the High Performance Centre in Tshwane (South Africa) for required enhancement of the body from a young age,” he said.
Looking ahead, he lists other factors that should be added to hard work in order for Cosafa to do better on the continent.
“I think lessons learnt here should be: patriotism, and commitment of all stakeholders, improvisation, character and enthusiasm from all as hard work alone does not guarantee success but only improve the chances,” he concluded.
HECTOR MAWONGA