Warriors from the land of the brave


The victorious Brave Warriors class of 2015 (Cosafa website)


The team hoists the coach up in the air (Cosafa website)

One day, I will be a father. I will tell my children about the 30th of May 2015, the day the Namibian men’s soccer team won the Southern African Soccer Championship (COSAFA) cup. In my head, it goes like this.

Daughter: Dad, tell the story of how the Warriors won the COSAFA cup, please.

Me: Guys, I’ve already told you that story twice this week.

Son: But it’s our favourite!

Me: Well, it was the year 2015. We have just changed presidents, his Excellency Hage Geingob and his swag were on the warpath against poverty, Gal level had since long broken up, and Xenophobia was still a thing. We had put faith in Ricardo Manneti as our coach, and his misfiring team had shown promise, albeit flashes of it. Sometimes it was working, and then there were times where it was like watching Bafana Bafana.

How were we to know, that Benson Shilongo actually learnt more than just Sestwana while playing for Gaborone United in Botswana? How were we to know exactly how hot Deon Hotto could get? How were we to know that we’d actually beat Mozambique for the first time in four matches? And how were we to know that the Mannetti’s hamstrings could still handle a sprint across half of the soccer field? We didn’t even expect that his goofy celebratory dance would spark a craze.


Tangeni Shipahu's teamates in Thailand do the Manneti dance. Ricardo what have you done? (Twitter)

Match winner Deon Hotto lights up the final (Namibian Newspaper)

 Son: I don’t think I like this version.

Daughter: Shush! Let him continue, it’s going to get interesting. This is our dad we’re talking about, he tells stories like he’s painting with words. He hasn’t even done the Manetti yet.
Me: (smiling) It starts in the North West Province, against Seychelles, an Island only known because they’re right next to Mauritius. Known for holidaying rather than soccer.

At this point the wife walks in with Groceries, drops everything on the Kitchen table and walks to the living room. Where the two munchkins are totally enthralled by version 3 of the COSAFA story.

Wife: What’s going on? Is it story telling time? Where is he?

Daughter and Son: Seychelles!

Wife: So I didn’t miss the good part.

The wife smiles and whispers, “Do your thing.” 

Me: So, where was I? Oh, yes. Mauritius….

Manetti airways takes off in the Semi-final against Madagascar (Namibian Newspaper)

“The everyday fan on the street. This cup is for you guys. Football is something that puts smiles on Namibian people. Even the dogs and cats at home are smiling right now.”
– Ricardo Bucksy Manneti (Coach, Namibia men’s soccer team (Brave Warriors)).

Manneti against Kenya in his playing days (Namibian Newspaper Archives)

Joy, elation, and absolute ecstasy. Manetti Celebrates with the fans (The citizen)

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