Brave Gladiators coach Jacqui Shipanga announced her final 21-member squad for next week’s tn Mobile Africa Women Championship at a press conference on Thursday.
Defender Uerikondjera Kasaona from Opuwo will captain the team while Lena Noreses from Windhoek is the vice-captain.
Two players have been shortlisted, namely Anna Shikusho and Novata Paulus, and will be called up in case of injuries.
The squad includes defenders Twelikondjela Amukoto and Iina Katuta, although they have not yet been released from their Police training camp in Ongwediva. According to Shipanga, if they are unavailable, the shortlisted players will come in for them.
“I’m awaiting feedback from the police regarding the availability of Twelikondjela Amukoto and Ndapewa Katuta. If they can’t join us then those that were shortlisted will be called up,” she said.
The head of the NFA Women Department Jackey Gertze said the announcement was a special moment for the NFA.
“This is a very important and special moment for us at the NFA. We are now entrusting our head coach to do the job on behalf of Namibia’s 2 million people.
The Namibian government has invested about N$7 million to help prepare this team, while other partners like UNAIDS and FIFA have helped develop our players over the past eight years,” she said.
Shipanga announced that she had selected Black Africa coach Brian Isaacs as her first assistant coach, while a technical advisory committee to be headed by NFA technical director Klaus Starke, will consist of prominent Namibian coaches Bobby Samaria, Bernard Kaanjuka, Willem Kapukare, Timo Tjongarero and Brave Warriors coach Ricardo Mannetti.
“We selected a technical advisory committee to help us with match analysis and scouting of the other teams. Some of them will already go to Zambia this weekend to attend the match between Zambia and Cameroon,” she said.
The Brave Gladiators’ preparations received a welcome boost when they beat Algeria 2-1 in a practise match behind closed doors at the Independence Stadium on Wednesday. The match was originally supposed to take place on Tuesday but was postponed by a day due to ongoing renovations at the Independence Stadium.
After a goalless first half Namibia took the lead through Stella Williams after an assist by Lorraine Jossop. Algeria came back to equalise but Juliana Skrywer scored Namibia’s winning goal after a fine through ball by Zenatha Coleman.
Shipanga said she was encouraged by the performance.
“One must always be satisfied with a win but there are still areas to improve upon. We started with a lot of substitutes so I’m satisfied that they managed to keep the score goalless till halftime. I was really happy with the form of non-starters like Kleintjie Fredericks, Stella Williams and Lydia Eixas. I don’t know if they pulled out all the stops because of the team announcement today, but I was really impressed,” she said.
Namibia and Algeria will meet for a second time in an official international friendly tomorrow which will also serve as the main warmup match for the Africa Women’s Championships.
The match will take place at the Sam Nujoma Stadium, starting at 17h00 and entrance is free of charge. There will also be several other matches featuring girl teams during the course of the day.
The Namibian squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers:
Lydia Eixas, Susanna Eises and Agnes Kauzuu.
Defenders:
Iina Katuta, Uerikondjera Kasaona (captain), Twelikondjera Amukoto, Stacey Naris, Lorraine Jossob, Ester Amukwaya and Vewe Kotjipati.
Midfielders:
Lena Noreses (vice captain), Annouschka Kordom, Juliana Skrywer, Thomalina Adams, Zenatha Coleman, Memory Ngonda, Shirley Cloete and Lovisa Mulunga.
Strikers:
Elmarie Fredericks, Stella Williams and Vistoria Shangula.
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