Staff Reporter
Windhoek-Namibia’s under-17 football team, the Baby Warriors, depart for Westphalia tomorrow evening for their biannual two-week developmental tour in Germany, courtesy of the bilateral agreement between the Namibian government and the Westphalia Football Association in conjunction with the NFA.
The team will be hosted at the modern Kamen-Kaiserau Sports Centre and open their European safari with a confrontation against Homburcher SV under-18s on Saturday before watching the German under-17 final DFB on Sunday.
The travelling entourage are largely the same team that took part in the 2016 COSAFA under-17 championships with 15 members from the victorious squad such as Mbakondja Tjahikika, Eldery Morgan, Lubeni Haukongo and Johannes Hollombach all in the mix.
The team will be coached by Cosafa Cup winning assistant coach Pauhl Malembu, and will play no less than seven matches during their stay as well as visit the German Football Museum, among others.
NFA president Frans Mbidi emphasized the importance of continuity in terms of development and expressed delight at the team selection.
“This agreement marked 20 years in 2015 and remains a very important one for us. Of course, the boys won the Cosafa Youth Cup but now they are going to Germany to further develop themselves. They will be exposed to state-of-the-art facilities, whilst engaging in a lot of football-related activities and that is what holistic development is all about,” Mbidi said. He added that as long as the boys are afforded platforms to play, their development would still be on track and there should be no need to start pressing panic buttons.
“At this age, the boys need this kind of exposure so that upon graduating through the ranks they can handle the pressure and different environments. They had a good platform last year and even fared well in the 2017 African under-17 qualifiers, and now this is a new level for them,” commented Mbidi. The tour is funded by Westphalia Football Association.
The traveling entourage is as follows:
Philipus Josef, Godwin Awaseb, Johannes Hollombach, Lubeni Haukongo, Dawid Morgan JR, Stanley Ndjavera, Mbakondja Tjahikika, Vaino Uugwanga, Pitsi Amseb, Giovani Kaninab, Stevano Dundee, Denzil Narib, Junior Petrus, Megameno Kapuku, Jovane Narib, Mbajoroka Kahuure, Immanuel Hamunyela and Godwin Eiseb.