Brave Warriors without Nyambe and Starke
By Confidente Reporter
THE senior national football team, the Brave Warriors will kick off their International Federation of Football Association (FIFA) 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign against Eritrea on 4 September without the services of Europe-based players Ryan Nyambe and Manfred Starke.
According to the Namibia Football Association (NFA)’s official website, interim head coach Bobby Samaria had a telephonic conversation with the duo and agreed that the players will remain at their respective clubs to compete for places.
“I have spoken to Ryan Nyambe and Manfred Starke and we agreed that for now they fight for places at their respective clubs and later on we [will] consider them. Riaan Hanamub, our thoughts and prayers are with him as he lost his mother and sister in a car accident this weekend and we also agreed with him to leave him out for now,” said Samaria.
Interim coach Samaria has named a provisional 36-man squad to prepare for Eritrea with the first away leg on 4 September and the second leg at Sam Nujoma Stadium in Windhoek on 10 September.
Samaria guided the local-based Brave Warriors to a second round win over Comoros Island in the 2020 CAF African Nations Championship (CHAN) qualifiers recently and will continue to be in charge of the team until further notice or when a substantive coach is appointed for the team.
“The professional players will arrive from 29 August and Peter Shalulile will be the last player to join us the day we leave on 1 September to go and do the job away from home,” he said, adding that the team has about 11 local-based players and that after the Eritrea clash, the Namibia-based charges will take on Madagascar in the final round of the CHAN qualifiers.
“We need to keep the guys active and hence this balanced and big team. We will be going with 23 players to Eritrea and so we have a good fight and that can only make things a little bit easier for the technical team in terms of the importance of all four both games.”
The local-based players reported for training on 25 August as training kicked off on Monday at the NFA Technical Centre, while the foreign-based players will report from 29 August (today). The team of 23 will depart on 1 September for Asmara, Eritrea.
Players called are Virgil Vries (unattached), Loydt Kazapua (Baroka FC, SA), Junias Theophilus and Larry Horaeb (Tura Magic), Aprocious Petrus (Eleven Arrows), Charles Uirab (Unam), Ratanda Mbazuvara, Ivan Kamberipa, Obrey Amseb, Marcel Papama and Gustav Isaak (all African Stars), Dynamo Fredericks, Vitapi Ngaruka, Emilio Martin, McCartney Naweseb, Immanuel Heita, Wendell Rudath and Kamaijanda Ndisiro (all Black Africa), Mapenzi Muwanei, Llewelyn Stanley and Absalom Iimbondi (all Tigers), Isaskar Gurirab (Life Fighters), Elmo Kambindu (Mighty Gunners) Panduleni Nekundi, (unattached), Gregory Aukumeb (Blue Waters), Willy Stephanus and Petrus Shitembi (Lusaka Dynamos, Zambia), Denzil Haoseb (unattached), Peter Shalulile (Highlands Park, SA) Chris Katjiukua (Black Leopards, SA), Calvin Spiegel (Okahandja United), Benson Shilongo (Ismaily, Egypt), Hendrik Somaeb (unattached), Deon Hotto (Bidvest Wits, SA), Joslin Kamatuka, and Teberius Lombard (Zanaco, Zambia).