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Namibia head coach Collin Benjamin says the absence of Peter Shalulile opens the door for others while hailing the progress of Bafana Bafana under Hugo Broos.
Shalulile suffered a hamstring injury with Sundowns last month and has been ruled out for another couple of weeks, which saw him omitted from the squad to face Bafana on Saturday afternoon.
With the COSAFA rivals on the brink of Africa Cup of Nations qualification, pending the result between Burundi and Broos’ former side Cameroon, the game will serve as a preparation clash for the binnieal event and the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
“With Peter not being here, obviously it’s a blow. If he is one of the best players at Mamelodi Sundowns in South Africa, then you can know what impact he has on our team when he’s not around,” Benjamin said in the pre-match press conference.
“But nonetheless, it’s an opportunity for some of the players who normally wouldn’t start, to use this platform and opportunity to showcase their talent and show me, the coach, I’m here, Namibia, I’m here – I can do the job. And to make our [national team] pool bigger.”
Benjamin, a former Bundesliga player with 1860 Munich and HSV Hamburg says the South Africa national team serves as a aspiration for them and suggested they’ve made strides under the management of Broos.
“You guys have good players, technically very gifted players, facilities, structures, you guys have everything, that’s why I said you guys have what we want,” he said about the progress of the national team.
“That’s why for us to get what we want, we have to get results on the pitch. So with that said, the team has been doing very well, they’ve developed [under Broos], some players are playing in the top leagues in the world, so something is being done well and we want a piece of that [in the future].”