Namibia coach, Arien Schans sat through an uncomfortable opening game at the African Cup of Nations, when his team were walloped 5-1 in Group A by Morocco on Monday at the Ohene Djan Stadium.

But the Dutchman, who was only into his third game in charge after being called up at the last minute following the death of former coach Ben Bamfuchile in late December, says his team needs to pick up the pieces before meeting hosts, Ghana, on Thursday.

The dejected Namibia coach, speaking at the post-game press conference of the record defeat, surpassing the 4-1 loss inflicted by South Africa in Burkina Faso 10 years ago, believes Monday’s performance and result will help them lift up their game for Thursday’s match.

“Well, you know in football, there’s always one game that most of the points are going wrong. Hopefully for us, it was our game today (5-1 defeat to Morocco).

“Against Ghana, the situation is like this in my opinion. First, today (against Morocco) we had a very good experience on how you cannot behave and as you all know as well as I know, Ghana, has a very physical, strong-body players. So, today, we know this already, if you don’t fight back, then you receive a very simple of your goals.

“On the other hand, I hope that you don’t forget that Namibia came here to the African Cup and was very proud to have qualified. Also we are not only here for the African Cup but we are also here to gain some experience for the future and especially experience for the qualification group for the World 2010.

“And I think today (against Morocco), it was a very good experience for the players that they know what means international level,” Arien Schans said ahead of the game on Thursday against Ghana.

Morocco inflicted a record 5-1 loss on Namibia in their opening African Nations Cup on Monday.