Football hopes rest on Warriors
Namibia travels to South Africa today in an attempt to repeat their 2015 Cosafa Castle Cup
The lost hopes and dreams of Namibian football might be restored by a heroic performance from the national team at the 2017 Cosafa Cup, coach Ricardo Mannetti says.
The 2015 Cosafa winning coach said he was hopeful that the Brave Warriors will pull off another historic performance at this year's tournament.
The coach yesterday announced a 22-man squad travelling to South Africa for the southern African regional showpiece.
Mannetti has managed to select some of the finest players he could get, despite having selection headaches due to the fact that the local league has been idle since last year.
His selection was mainly based on the past two tournaments the country has played, combined with the activeness of the players plying their trade in South Africa and Botswana.
“It will be such a wonderful thing if Namibia can go on to win this tournament.
“Many Namibians' football hopes have been dashed because of the football problems the country faces and I do believe that winning this competition or advancing in the last stages can restore that hope.
“It is important that all Namibians show their support to the team because the boys will need it,” Mannetti said.
Players like Wangu Gome and Peter Shalulile remain a huge doubt for the tournament because of injuries even if they made the squad.
Gome has been struggling with a recurring knee injury, while Shalulile is nursing a chronic angle injury.
Another player likely to be ousted from the team list at the eleventh hour is Hendrik Somaeb who is caught up in a problem with South African immigration authorities.
The coach stated that Somaeb's last visit to South Africa resulted to him being banned from entering the country again after experiencing paper work complications.
The Namibian management team are however doing all they can to ensure that Somaeb gets a green light to enter South Africa.
“At the expense of the non-active Namibian league, I looked at the previous league games and Cosafa tournaments to come up with a squad.
“My biggest concern now is match fitness because Lesotho has played more games than us this year.
“However, I am impressed with the general fitness the players have and that should be enough to get us through.”
The 22-men squad Mannetti announced will be trimmed to 18 before Namibia plays Lesotho in the quarterfinals at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa.
Squad
Virgil Vries, Maximilian Mbaeva, Loydt Kazapua, Ferdinard Karongee, Denzil Hoaseb, Chris Katjiukua, Gebhardt Ananias, Larry Horaeb, Tiberius Lombard , Riaan !Hanamub, Oswaldo Xamaseb, Dynamo Frederickcs, Wangu Gome, Petrus Shitembi, Absalom Iimbondi, Hendrik Somaeb, Benjamin Nenkavu, Ronald Ketjijere, Deon Hotto, Peter Shalulile, Rodger Katjiteo, Itamunua Keimuine.
Jesse Jackson Kauraisa
The 2015 Cosafa winning coach said he was hopeful that the Brave Warriors will pull off another historic performance at this year's tournament.
The coach yesterday announced a 22-man squad travelling to South Africa for the southern African regional showpiece.
Mannetti has managed to select some of the finest players he could get, despite having selection headaches due to the fact that the local league has been idle since last year.
His selection was mainly based on the past two tournaments the country has played, combined with the activeness of the players plying their trade in South Africa and Botswana.
“It will be such a wonderful thing if Namibia can go on to win this tournament.
“Many Namibians' football hopes have been dashed because of the football problems the country faces and I do believe that winning this competition or advancing in the last stages can restore that hope.
“It is important that all Namibians show their support to the team because the boys will need it,” Mannetti said.
Players like Wangu Gome and Peter Shalulile remain a huge doubt for the tournament because of injuries even if they made the squad.
Gome has been struggling with a recurring knee injury, while Shalulile is nursing a chronic angle injury.
Another player likely to be ousted from the team list at the eleventh hour is Hendrik Somaeb who is caught up in a problem with South African immigration authorities.
The coach stated that Somaeb's last visit to South Africa resulted to him being banned from entering the country again after experiencing paper work complications.
The Namibian management team are however doing all they can to ensure that Somaeb gets a green light to enter South Africa.
“At the expense of the non-active Namibian league, I looked at the previous league games and Cosafa tournaments to come up with a squad.
“My biggest concern now is match fitness because Lesotho has played more games than us this year.
“However, I am impressed with the general fitness the players have and that should be enough to get us through.”
The 22-men squad Mannetti announced will be trimmed to 18 before Namibia plays Lesotho in the quarterfinals at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, South Africa.
Squad
Virgil Vries, Maximilian Mbaeva, Loydt Kazapua, Ferdinard Karongee, Denzil Hoaseb, Chris Katjiukua, Gebhardt Ananias, Larry Horaeb, Tiberius Lombard , Riaan !Hanamub, Oswaldo Xamaseb, Dynamo Frederickcs, Wangu Gome, Petrus Shitembi, Absalom Iimbondi, Hendrik Somaeb, Benjamin Nenkavu, Ronald Ketjijere, Deon Hotto, Peter Shalulile, Rodger Katjiteo, Itamunua Keimuine.
Jesse Jackson Kauraisa
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