Namibia head coach Collin Benjamin, who had previously said that Peter Shalulile’s injury was an opportunity for other players to step up, changed his tune after the Bafana Bafana game.
Benjamin’s troops held Bafana to a 0-0 draw in an international friendly at Orlando Stadium in Soweto on Saturday afternoon.
Sundowns hitman Shalulile was notable for Namibia as he is still nursing an injury. Shalulile has been out of action since suffering a hamstring injury on 15 August in a game against Golden Arrows at Lucas Moripe Stadium.
Benjamin was frustrated by his men’s profligacy in front of goal, missing several chances to change the match’s outcome.
The Namibia coach strongly believes that the game’s outcome could have been different if Shalulile had been part of the match-day squad.
Benjamin’s remarks come after he had initially said that he would use Shalulile’s absence to “make the national team pool bigger.”
NAMIBIA COACH BEMOANS SHALULILE’S ABSENCE
Shalulile has been a mainstay in the Brave Warriors squad as he is the all-time top goal scorer. On top of that, the 29-year-old is the national team captain.
“If I say that, we created three chances that everybody saw. And it was normal 100% chances,” Benjamin told the media.
“Obviously, if you have a player or striker of his quality, you know that one will go in. So you can’t replace that; we find it difficult to replace him.
OTHER SOCCER NEWS:Namibia coach sees silver lining in Peter Shalulile injury
“But this is the opportunity the young ones have to take, and they can learn from this match. They would know that, okay, I go through this side, not this side, so that the goal can come,” added Benjamin.
Peter Shalulile will be ready for action when Namibia take on Equatorial Guinea in their next game in the FIFA World Cup qualifiers in November.
They are in Group H alongside Tunisia, São Tomé and Príncipe and Liberia.