Otniel Hembapu
Brave Warriors gaffer Bobby Samaria is excited about the arrival of national team top guns Peter Shalulile and Deon Hotto to the camp over the weekend, as well as Virgil Vries, who reported for duty yesterday.
Ahead of his arrival for national duty, Vries had a busy weekend with club Swallows FC, producing some brilliant saves to force a 0-0 draw against Cape Town City on Sunday during their first leg of the South African MTN 8 semi-finals.
With club affairs momentarily out of the way, the trio have now turned their attention to national duty, where they will be seeking to help Namibia reawaken her 2022 Fifa World Cup qualifiers’ campaign when they face Congo-Brazzaville on Thursday.
The match will be played at the Orlando Stadium in South Africa, a move that was forced by Namibia’s lack of Fifa and Caf-approved stadiums of international standard. After the Congo-Brazzaville clash, the Warriors will then travel to Togo for their next qualifying match on Sunday.
“Having these players in the team surely gets things going much better. They have the experience and they are on form, and that will help us a lot,” said Samaria, who equally hailed the arrival of the country’s Egypt-based striker Benson Shilongo.
After the Congo-Brazzaville and Togo encounters, the qualifiers will resume in October as the Warriors visit group favourites Senegal on 6 October, before hosting them at Orlando Stadium on 10 October.
Brave Warriors squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Kamaijanda Ndisiro, Lloyd Kazapua and Vries.
Defenders: Riaan Hanamub, Ivan Kamberipa, Ananias Gebhardt, Larry Horaeb, Teberius Lombardt, Approcius Petrus, Denzil Haoseb and Charles Hambira.
Midfielders: Dynamo Fredericks, Alfeus Handura, Wangu Gome, Hotto, Absalom Iimbondi, Wesley Katjiteo, Marcel Papama, Prins Tjiueza and Willy Stephanus.
Forwards: Elmo Kambindu, Issaskar Gurirab, Shalulile, Joslin Kamatuka and Shilongo.
– ohembapu@nepc.com.na