\n<\/p>\n
Saintfiet’s love of African football dates back to 1982 when he was just nine years old.<\/p>\n
His first football memory came in the form of Algeria and Cameroon players in a World Cup sticker book, attracted by the names and kit designs, while as he grew older he slaked his thirst for knowledge with copies of the hard-to-find Afrique Football magazine.<\/p>\n
Decades on, he still keeps them all.<\/p>\n
“I treasure them,” he admitted. “There was no internet, so they gave you the information.<\/p>\n
\u201cI bought it in the \u201890s and the beginning of the 2000s.”<\/p>\n
Already a head coach by the age of 24, he did not wait long before making his first attempt to move to Africa.<\/p>\n
\u201cI then applied – this 26-year-old guy – for the Zimbabwe job with a fax. I still have the fax paper and their reply.\u201d<\/p>\n
Saintfiet was well into his thirties before the fax machine finally paid off, with Namibia appointing him in 2008.<\/p>\n
His journey since has been eventful on and off the pitch, building a reputation for lifting results and expectations from a low base – something best illustrated by his time with The Gambia between 2018 and 2023.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was telling the president and the vice president that I’m here to qualify,\u201d he said of his ambitions.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they both looked at me surprised and said \u2018coach, we didn’t win for five years \u2013 please, let’s first try to win a match.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThey didn’t believe me because they had never qualified for a tournament in 60 years. The belief was, at that moment in time, almost zero.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n