Maurice Kambukwe
WINDHOEK- Namibia’s acrobatic goalkeeper Virgil Vries, who a few months ago was offloaded by South African giants Kaizer Chiefs and subsequently failed to make the cut for this year’s Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) where the Brave Warriors partook, has rejoined the national team camp.
Speaking to New Era Sport yesterday ahead of Namibia’s 2020 African Nations Championship (Chan) second leg qualifier against the visiting Comoros Islands this Sunday at the Sam Nujoma Stadium, Brave Warriors interim coach Bobby Samaria revealed that he has roped in the services of old-time campaigners Vries, Petrus Shitembi and Awilo Stephanus.
Namibia won the first leg 2-0 away at Comoros last Friday, which saw national team skipper Dynamo Fredericks and debutant Elmo Kambindu finding the back of the net for the Warriors, and Samaria yesterday indicated that he has no plans of taking the foot off the gas in Sunday’s encounter.
Samaria says he expects Comoros to fully come out at them in search of an early goal or two but maintains that they will be ready to fumigate whatever venom the Islanders spit at them.
“Of course it’s expected of them to come at us wanting to get an early goal. We’ve been busy training the whole week now revising the strategy and implementing that strategy and planning on how to execute it. But going into the details on the methodology, it would be very unwise of me to reveal it into the public domain because Comoros also have their eyes and ears,” he said.
The former African Stars and Tigers mentor remains ready for Sunday’s match as there are currently no injuries in the 23-man squad and with the addition of the three senior players, he believes the team is ready.
“I think we have a good 23-man squad, but the good thing with this camp is that we also have professional and experienced players that joined the team such as Petrus Shitembi, Awilo Stephanus and Virgil Vries. I think it’s a good sign.”