WINDHOEK – The coastal town of Swakopmund is set to host the biannual Four-Nations U-17 tournament during April 18-21 at the Swakopmund Sports Complex where Namibia will take on South Africa, Ghana and regular visitors Westphalia.
“The Four-Nations tournament is a development competition organised and hosted by Namibia every two years, where we have regular participants Westphalia plus two other teams as well. This year we will be joined by some of Africa’s powerhouses Ghana and South Africa, which I think will serve as good opponents for our new crop of players to test themselves. It is not really about winning, but it’s the exposure and experience for the boys,” said tournament director Roger Kambatuku.
The tournament is organised by the Ministry of Youth, National Service, Sports and Culture in conjunction with the Namibia Football Association (NFA), as part of the Namibia-Germany bilateral sports agreement. Next year, Namibia’s U-17 boys will travel to Westphalia, Germany for three weeks of international youth competitions.
Team manager Jakes Amaning says the team will be trimmed down today to the required number, since there are currently over 30 players in camp.
“We have about 38 players undergoing trials and by later today we will reduce the team to just 20 players. We have the best players around and with Ghana’s pedigree in international youth football, we are looking forward to an interesting tournament indeed,” Amaning said. The Namibian players were selected during last year’s inaugural Skorpion Zinc U-17 Cup competition at Keetmanshoop. The team will be coached by renowned youth football mentor Turipamue Upi.
By Staff Reporter