Brave Gladiators to meet Banyana

THE Brave Gladiators will lock horns against their southern neighbours Banyana Banyana in an international friendly match in Johannesburg on Sunday.

The match will, according to the Namibia Football Association’s (NFA) Women’s Desk, serve as a preparatory match for the South African side ahead of their All-Africa Games and Olympic qualifiers. A squad of 22 Namibian players was announced over the weekend and joined a training camp on Saturday.They will depart for South Africa tomorrow.The final 18 players to go on the trip will also be announced tomorrow.The core of the team that competed in the Olympic Games qualifiers against the Democratic Republic of Congo has been kept, with the exception of team captain Helvi Eliakim who will miss the trip due to a knee injury.In their first match in 2003, the South African women’s side beat their Namibian counterparts by an astronomical 13-0 margin in an away match played in South Africa.In 2004, the Namibians fell by the same margin at home at the Independence Stadium, while in their match last year during the Cosafa Cup in Zambia, Namibia managed to reduce the high margin to a 3-1 defeat.The Brave Gladiators will only be going into their 18th international match since their formation 12 years ago.The team, which had a fantastic run in their international matches last year, improved drastically over the years and won a silver medal at the Cosafa Championships last year.The Namibian team played their first international match against a visiting German Tertiary Institutions side in January 1996.They lost the match 4-1 under the tutelage of former Brave Warriors mentor Rusten Mogane.Two years after that, Mogane led the Brave Warriors to the African Nations Cup in Burkina Faso where they pulled off several surprises against several African football powerhouses.The 2006/2007 season has been the Gladiators’ busiest, with 12 international matches to date.The top goal scorer for the women’s side is striker Stella Williams, who has a tally of 12 goals from 17 international matches.She is also the most capped player in the side.Williams is currently the only player to have scored against Banyana Banyana in their two matches in 2004 and 2006 and is expected to lead the attack on Sunday again.At the moment, the Namibian team is regarded as the fastest mover in the game in southern Africa.The side has recorded respectable score lines against countries such as former powerhouses Zimbabwe.They managed to pull a 3-all draw against the DRC in Olympic qualifiers recently and also beat Zimbabwe in an international friendly played in Windhoek earlier this year.The Women’s Football Desk has established regional leagues to popularise the game among women and to contribute to the development of the women’s game on the grassroots level.Gladiators coach Jacqui Shipanga and her Zimbabwean counterpart, Rosemary Mugadza, are the only female coaches in the region, who have formerly played and captained their countries’ national teams.Shipanga and Mugadza faced each other on the pitch during an African Nations Cup qualifier played in Windhoek in 2002, which Namibia lost 4-2.Shipanga will be in charge of the Namibian side as the head coach in Johannesburg on Sunday and will be deputised by former Civics player Bryan ‘Golla’ van Staden.Julien Garises will be the team manager, with Mellita Kgobetsi taking care of the players’ medical issues.A squad of 22 Namibian players was announced over the weekend and joined a training camp on Saturday.They will depart for South Africa tomorrow.The final 18 players to go on the trip will also be announced tomorrow.The core of the team that competed in the Olympic Games qualifiers against the Democratic Republic of Congo has been kept, with the exception of team captain Helvi Eliakim who will miss the trip due to a knee injury.In their first match in 2003, the South African women’s side beat their Namibian counterparts by an astronomical 13-0 margin in an away match played in South Africa.In 2004, the Namibians fell by the same margin at home at the Independence Stadium, while in their match last year during the Cosafa Cup in Zambia, Namibia managed to reduce the high margin to a 3-1 defeat.The Brave Gladiators will only be going into their 18th international match since their formation 12 years ago.The team, which had a fantastic run in their international matches last year, improved drastically over the years and won a silver medal at the Cosafa Championships last year.The Namibian team played their first international match against a visiting German Tertiary Institutions side in January 1996.They lost the match 4-1 under the tutelage of former Brave Warriors mentor Rusten Mogane.Two years after that, Mogane led the Brave Warriors to the African Nations Cup in Burkina Faso where they pulled off several surprises against several African football powerhouses.The 2006/2007 season has been the Gladiators’ busiest, with 12 international matches to date.The top goal scorer for the women’s side is striker Stella Williams, who has a tally of 12 goals from 17 international matches.She is also the most capped player in the side.Williams is currently the only player to have scored against Banyana Banyana in their two matches in 2004 and 2006 and is expected to lead the attack on Sunday again.At the moment, the Namibian team is regarded as the fastest mover in the game in southern Africa.The side has recorded respectable score lines against countries such as former powerhouses Zimbabwe.They managed to pull a 3-all draw against the DRC in Olympic qualifiers recently and also beat Zimbabwe in an international friendly played in Windhoek earlier this year.The Women’s Football Desk has established regional leagues to popularise the game among women and to contribute to the development of the women’s game on the grassroots level.Gladiators coach Jacqui Shipanga and her Zimbabwean counterpart, Rosemary Mugadza, are the only female coaches in the region, who have formerly played and captained their countries’ national teams.Shipanga and Mugadza faced each other on the pitch during an African Nations Cup qualifier played in Windhoek in 2002, which Namibia lost 4-2.Shipanga will be in charge of the Namibian side as the head coach in Johannesburg on Sunday and will be deputised by former Civics player Bryan ‘Golla’ van Staden.Julien Garises will be the team manager, with Mellita Kgobetsi taking care of the players’ medical issues.