Dhe Namibian Collin Benjamin played for Hamburger SV for eleven years. In 2016 he returned to his homeland. In the capital, Windhoek, he wants to pave the way for the next up-and-coming talent to get into the big stadiums. He has had another task since June: as Namibia’s new national soccer coach, Benjamin is to bring the “Brave Warriors” forward – a team that has never qualified for the World Cup.
Your Bavarian business partner calls you the “Franz Beckenbauer of Namibia”. How do you want to promote football in your home country?
My business partner exaggerates beyond measure. I’m looking for players willing to push their limits. I firmly believe that hard work beats talent. Namibia is not exactly blessed with a plethora of outstanding footballers bringing their skills to the top European leagues. It’s not like Senegal, where you can find a number of world-class players – Mané, for example. We have to rely on team spirit and hard work.
The Brave Warriors have never qualified for a World Cup. Which goals are realistic?
We have to focus on performances in Africa. At the COSAFA Cup in July we were in the final against Zambia – nobody would have expected that before. If we make it to the Africa Cup of Nations every four years and not just every ten, then we’ll have achieved a lot. Maybe then we’ll have the chance to qualify for the World Cup one day. But that is a dream. First of all we have to start at home to lay a good foundation. For almost three years we have not had an active professional league in Namibia, which is two stadiums in Windhoek. We need more players, more youth, more structures.
Successful in the Bundesliga: “It often seems like something out of a fairy tale,” Benjamin recalls.
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Image: picture alliance / HIGH TWO
Since returning to Namibia in 2016, you have dedicated yourself to youth work – on your own, with no support from the government or the Namibia Football Association (NFA). What drives you?
I’ve often asked myself why I made it into the Bundesliga. It often seems like a fairytale story to me. I worked hard for it every day and when I wasn’t working out I was watching horrible talk shows to learn German. In the end I always come to the conclusion that it must have been fate so that I can now pass on what I learned during my time at HSV and later at 1860 Munich. The potential is there in Namibia. But we also have to use it.
What’s missing for a boost?
In Germany, players start with the Bambini at the age of four. We don’t have anything like that, we don’t have any structures. I wanted to change that. We have had an organized youth league for a few years now. So the boys can play at least 30 games a year. I see youth work as a national concern. With the league we have laid a foundation. And at the Collin Benjamin Academy, which I founded two years ago, 18 talented guys train every day, but they also do their homework and learn there. They don’t pay for training, food or clothing, my business partner and I take care of that. That is our mission, a matter close to our heart. If just one of the guys makes it into a big league then it was worth it. And if not, then at least we tried.
The big stadiums in Europe – is that still the big dream today?
