WINDHOEK – With major revamp plans on the cards for the Namibian senior football team, the Brave Warriors, plans are underway to hosts Swaziland on September 10 at the Sam Nujoma stadium in a match that is earmarked to herald in a new era.
Following Namibia’s early elimination from the 2015 AFCON Qualifiers, coach Ricardo Mannetti, has been tasked to rebuild the team and the former Warriors’ holding midfielder is like likely to ring wholesale changes to the squad that dismally failed to negotiate their way past the preliminary rounds of the AFCON Qualifiers.
The Namibia Football Association (NFA) is lining up several international friendlies for the Warriors and with more training camps to ensure the coach and players get a clear understanding of each other as they embark upon a new journey. The provisionally squad will be announced later today.
The association’s Secretary-General, Barry Rukoro, says the time has come for the tame Warriors to realign their mission in world football and bold technical decisions, fully supported by the authority, will be the only way to go.
“We are starting a new chapter in our journey, a new journey if we are to achieve that, we must have players that command regular places in their respective clubs and fight for places to play. They can play anywhere, in the domestic premier league, first division or even the South African second tier division.
Rukoro adds that Namibia can no longer have players just because they are professionals who hardly feature for their clubs. “We need to change our way of thinking because we have sufficient time to implement the new plan. We are now out of the 2015 AFCON qualifiers but we still have enough to regroup”.
“We are looking at the players that formed part of the recent training camp in Ghana and also whoever else the technical team deem fit to add value and become part of the new plans for the team.”
He emphasized the importance of integrating the new group gradually into the system without the presence of the old guard to ensure the youngsters settle into playing system by mixing the team with regular professionals.
“The young players have the 2015 All-Africa Games and the 2016 Olympics Qualifiers to look forward to and this exercise could serve as springboard for them to establish themselves and gain the much needed experience. They have proven that they want to succeed and they need our support and ideal platforms to do that and more”, explains Rukoro.