Belgian named as Warriors coach

THE 35-year old Belgian, Tom Saintfiet, who has never coached a senior national team before, was yesterday named as the new head coach of the Brave Warriors.

Namibia Football Association (NFA) spokesman Beau Kauta said Saintfiet will arrive in the country next week and will take up his new post, after former coach and Dutch national Arie Schans, was fired last week. The new coach will not sign any contract and his mandate will be to lead the Warriors through their two remaining World Cup/African Nations Cup matches and the Cosafa Cup due later this year.Kauta said the association was not looking at results to be brought in at national level at this stage, but were looking having a steady national team by 2010.The new man will also act as the head coach of the under 23 national side, with current head coach Bobby Samaria ultimately being demoted into an assistant role.Saintfiet according to Kauta, was head-hunted by the NFA and was considered as the perfect choice for the ailing Brave Warriors side, which has virtually no chance of making it to 2010 World Cup/African Nations Cup finals, despite their two remaining matches.He said the NFA executive committee members who met at the weekend, decided to appoint Saintfiet, whose last coaching stint was with a Finnish Premier League club, known as Rovaniemen Palloseura or RoPS in that country at the beginning of this year.Saintfiet was born in Mol, Belgium, on March 29 1973 and at the age of 24, he was the youngest head coach in Belgium.A curriculum vitae availed by the NFA states that Saintfiet coached in several countries like Quatar, before he also became the head coach of the under 17 side in that country.He also coached league clubs in The Netherlands, Germany, Faroe Islands, Ivory Coast and in the lower Belgium leagues.As a footballer, he played for three Belgium professional clubs between 1983 and 1997.His qualifications are a Uefa A Diploma he obtained between 1996 and 2000 through the Royal Belgian Football Association, while last year, he attended a coaching course by the Dutch Football Association.Sainfiet has only won the Dragon and the McDonald’s Cups in Germany as a coach, his highest achievements so far.Saintfiet will appoint his own assistant coaches.The new coach will not sign any contract and his mandate will be to lead the Warriors through their two remaining World Cup/African Nations Cup matches and the Cosafa Cup due later this year.Kauta said the association was not looking at results to be brought in at national level at this stage, but were looking having a steady national team by 2010.The new man will also act as the head coach of the under 23 national side, with current head coach Bobby Samaria ultimately being demoted into an assistant role.Saintfiet according to Kauta, was head-hunted by the NFA and was considered as the perfect choice for the ailing Brave Warriors side, which has virtually no chance of making it to 2010 World Cup/African Nations Cup finals, despite their two remaining matches.He said the NFA executive committee members who met at the weekend, decided to appoint Saintfiet, whose last coaching stint was with a Finnish Premier League club, known as Rovaniemen Palloseura or RoPS in that country at the beginning of this year.Saintfiet was born in Mol, Belgium, on March 29 1973 and at the age of 24, he was the youngest head coach in Belgium.A curriculum vitae availed by the NFA states that Saintfiet coached in several countries like Quatar, before he also became the head coach of the under 17 side in that country.He also coached league clubs in The Netherlands, Germany, Faroe Islands, Ivory Coast and in the lower Belgium leagues.As a footballer, he played for three Belgium professional clubs between 1983 and 1997.His qualifications are a Uefa A Diploma he obtained between 1996 and 2000 through the Royal Belgian Football Association, while last year, he attended a coaching course by the Dutch Football Association.Sainfiet has only won the Dragon and the McDonald’s Cups in Germany as a coach, his highest achievements so far.Saintfiet will appoint his own assistant coaches.