WINDHOEK – Having bemoaned the Brave Warriors’ lack of creativity in the goal-scoring department on several occasions, coach Ricardo Mannetti yesterday finally showed some glimpses of hope that the problem could soon be put to bed when Namibia take on Tanzania in an international friendly next Wednesday at the Sam Nujoma Stadium in Windhoek.
Announcing his 23-member squad, Mannetti expressed delight and oozed with confidence that the chosen players have enough ammunition in their tanks to afford him the luxury of playing an attacking brand of football while creating numerous goal-scoring options upfront.
According to Mannetti, the squad which includes offensive players like Willy Stephanus, Petrus Shitembi, Manfred Starke, Heinrich Isaacks, Bryan Bantam, Deon Hotto, Henrico Botes, Rudolf Bester, Lazarus Kaimbi and the lethal Jerome Louis, amongst others, has what it takes to compete against any opponent and also boasts good quality in terms of creating goals by playing a pressing game.
Treasure Kauapirura, Nekundi Panduleni, Lloyd Kazapua, Pekka Hamukwaya and the enterprising Freedom Puriza, to mention but a few, lead a group of local players also included in the squad that is expected to respond well to Mannetti’s tactics and hopefully hand Namibians their first win for this year on home turf.
Mannetti however warned against complacency, saying playing against the Tanzanians will not be a walk in the park as the visitors have recently enjoyed good results and are in good form, as well as being better ranked. Despite Tanzania being ranked above Namibia, Mannetti indicated that he has faith and trust in the squad he announced and a possible victory over Tanzania is foreseeable come next Wednesday.
The Brave Warriors players are expected to report for camp on Sunday 2 March, while entrance tickets will cost N$40 each at all Computicket outlets countrywide as from Friday 28 February.
The players selected: Lloyd Kazapua (Tigers FC), Virgill Vries (Maritzburg United, SA), Edward Maova (Civics FC), Willem Mwedihanga (Amazulu SA), Larry Horaeb (Amazulu SA), Treasure Kauapirura (Tigers FC), Chris Katjiukua (Golden Arrows SA), Da Costa Angula (Black Africa FC), Pekka Hamukwaya (Tigers FC), Ronald Ketjijere (University of Pretoria), Freedom Puriza (African Stars), Emilio Martin, Willy Stephanus (both Black Africa), Manfred Starke (Hansa Rostock, Germany), Petrus Shitembi (Amazulu, SA), Heinrich Isaacks (Maritzburg United, SA), Bryan Bantam (Black Africa), Deon Hotto (Golden Arrows, SA), Nekundi Panduleni (Tigers FC), Henrico Botes (Platinum Stars, SA), Rudolf Bester (Golden Arrows, SA), Lazarus Kaimbi (Bangkok Class, Thailand) and Jerome Louis (Township Rollers Botswana).
By Otniel Hembapu