Windhoek
Brave Warriors rebellious goalkeeper Virgil Vries, who mysteriously vanished from the national team camp on Friday for reasons only known to him, yesterday finally resurfaced at the team’s training session but coach Ricardo Mannetti is however not interested in the wayward goalie.
Namibia will this Saturday confront Niger in their 2017 Afcon qualifier at the Sam Nujoma Stadium in their quest to finish second in Group K of the qualifiers. Brave Warriors’ next and final assignment will be against group leaders Senegal in September.
It was yesterday confirmed that Vries rocked up at training after having gone ‘missing’ for about five days without advancing any explanation to the team’s technical staff, which attracted mixed emotions about his overall commitment to the national team.
Despite turning up at training, pretending as if nothing had happened and hoping to make the starting line-up for Saturday’s clash, it is understood that Vries was left with egg on his face after Mannetti made it instantly clear that he is not interested in him as far as Saturday’s match is concerned.
In other news from the Brave Warriors camp, Highlands Park striker Peter Shalulile, who will be available for Saturday’s match, is oozing confidence and indicated his readiness come Saturday.
“We blew it against Burundi at home the last time and now with Niger coming to town we have to be clinical in front of goal. It’s not only about playing well but we also need goals to better ourselves. We are pushing for at least a second place finish in this group and Saturday’s game offers us that chance,” Shalulile said.
The Warriors are bottom of Group K on three points, level with third placed Niger, with Burundi in second place on six points and Senegal topping with 12 points.
The former Tura Magic midfielder adds that victory on Saturday will also instill belief in the nation to rally behind the team in their defence of the Cosafa Castle Cup that starts on June 11, with the Warriors only to play on June 18 against Botswana in the quarterfinals.
Shalulile joined the team on Monday and will feature on Saturday against Niger, before returning to Johannesburg on Sunday to join up with his club in preparation for the June 11 PSL promotional playoff match against University of Pretoria. Tickets for the Niger match are on sale at N$30 each from Computicket outlets at Shoprite and Checkers countrywide. The match will kick off at 15h00.