Mannetti looks to midfielders

Ricardo Mannetti has over the years built a core of players he can call on during crucial matches, but the Brave Warriors coach is in dire need of some serious goal poachers ahead of the 8 September Afcon qualifier against Zambia.Last season's Namibian Premier League (NPL) top scorer Panduleni Nekundi is battling to recover from an abductor muscle injury. Clubless striker Hendrick Somaeb is also battling an injury. Platinum Stars player, the speedy Peter Shalulile, will also miss the tie, courtesy of an ankle injury.This, however, does not bother Mannetti, as he believes he has a strong attacking midfield that will fill the void.“I have the likes of Black Africa's Dynamo Fredericks, Cape Umoya United's Wangu Gome, African Stars Ronald Ketjijere (captain) and Unam's Marcel Papama, to aid the strikers we have,” he said.Mannetti said some of the under-23 players were not making use of the opportunities provided to them.“I called up six players from the u-23 team, one of them being McCartney Naweseb from Black Africa, who trained with the team for two weeks and left the camp. This is not ideal for a young skilful player and I'm still waiting for the reasons as to why he left.“Then I have another playmaker, Anthony Kham (Eleven Arrows), who scored twice in Namibia 4-2 defeat against China when they played the two friendly matches.“I was also looking at Pinehas Willem (Eleven Arrows), but he suffered a torn Achilles heel and will be out for three months.”Manetti said as much as feeder programmes are there to assist, he also needed experienced players.“This again leaves me with guys like Bidvest player Deon Hotto, Egypt-based Benson Shilongo, and Finland-based player Willy 'Awillo' Stephanus. “Stephanus deserted the team ahead of the 2016 Cosafa Cup in Windhoek. He requested to be released from camp to attend trials in Vietnam at a time the team needed him. He has now apologised.“I also have Unam's Muna Katupose. Katupose is an impact player. He is also a problem-solver, which one needs to bring on at a specific time,” said Mannetti.“Sadney Urikhob (Thailand-based) is also another great player. Urikhob is just as dynamic as Shalulile, who will not be part of the team due to an ankle injury.“However, Urikhob's brother passed away, so he will miss most of the training sessions. But we hope that when he returns we can work on his fitness and get him ready.”Manetti said these types of things are normal in football, but that he plans on changing the team's formation and use technical expertise, in order to still approach the match against Zambia with the same aggression he always does.Asked whether he is still motivated and the Mannetti of old, he said: “The memory of people is short. If you wrap up our whole performance so far we have been doing well. Because we did badly against Bafana in the Cosafa Cup does not mean I have lost passion.“If I was not passionate about the team or my job I would have told the nation already that we will not be competing, because we have no strikers. But that is not me. This is my time and I mean business.”Namibia is in Group K alongside Zambia, Mozambique and Guinea Bissau. Mozambique currently heads the group with three points, while Guinea, also on three points, is in second position. Namibia and Zambia are third and fourth with no points, after losing their opening games.LIMBA MUPETAMI

Mannetti looks to midfielders

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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Mannetti looks to midfielders

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Namibian Sun 2025-06-18

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