Viewed as the underdogs even during the qualifiers, the Brave Warriors are in Group A that includes Morocco, Guinea and hosts Ghana where they have already been written off as mere participants.
However, veteran Namibian skipper Robert Nauseb believes they are not going to Ghana to ‘donate’ points.
“It is a very tough group. In any case, I never expected an easy group because there was no way that we would avoid the teams from either North or West Africa.
“Whichever way you look at it we would have been in a group that has any of the big teams, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Egypt or Mali, so it is the same and I am fine with the group that we have been thrown into,” says the Santos midfielder.
“We played Morocco last week and lost 2-0 in a friendly match and so we really know now what makes them tick. We don’t know much about Guinea but obviously with Ghana we will be naturally motivated to face Michael Essien and Sulley Muntari.
“That we are being called the underdogs of the group is something that will have happened no matter which of the four groups we were thrown into. Even during the qualifiers, we were underdogs. This means that we are going there with no pressure but to play and enjoy ourselves.
“We will want to prove that we are not just another team because there are no longer small teams. We are not going there to add numbers, but to give competition even if we are knocked out in the first round we will go down with dignity,” says Nauseb.
Being the only surviving member from the squad that played in the Afcon finals – the last time that Namibia qualified was in 1998 - Nauseb says preparations will be crucial.
“We need to travel with our full strength squad. If we prepare well, I am confident we will come out with something. I have always wanted us to play against the big guys like Ghana so that we learn from them,” he adds.
Namibia has lined up a friendly match against Saudi Arabia next month as part of their preparations for Ghana.