Mannetti slams critics after guiding Nambia to AFCON finals

Ricardo Mannetti, coach of Namibia

Friday Mar 29, 2019. 13:00

Namibia head coach Ricardo Mannetti has slammed his critics after guiding the team to the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) finals.

The Brave Warriors booked their place in the AFCON finals after finishing second in their qualifying group despite losing their last game against Zambia last weekend.

“When I took over as coach in 2015, I said I will embark on a big project to qualify Namibia for the 2019 Afcon and with the same players that helped Namibia qualify to this year’s Afcon," Mannetti said on New Era.

"We fought hard and had to overcome many challenges to get the team where it is today.

"During our tough campaign, we managed to beat Mozambique home and away and drew two games (against Zambia and Bissau) and only lost twice, a performance that played a huge role last Saturday, so how can people start doubting the team because of one day’s being bad at the office?" he asked.

"The mission was to qualify and we achieved that mission, Namibia is going to Egypt and that is what we should be celebrating as a nation, not bashing the players and coach. Namibians are so quick to forget."

Namibia will be making their third appearance in the finals with Egypt set to host the tournament between June and July.