Coach wanted for Warriors

THE Namibian football technical director, Seth Boois, has admitted that the Brave Warriors will fail to go beyond the first hurdle of the annual Cosafa Cup if a coach is not appointed by January next year.

The Brave Warriors are currently without a coach and the position of assistant coach also needs to be filled. Coaches for all national teams, starting from the under-15 side, have all been appointed by Boois in August this year, except the senior team.The last men to have led the Warriors in the Cosafa Cup were Max Johnson with David Snewe as his assistant and Ronnie Kanalelo as goalkeeper coach.Boois told The Namibian Sport yesterday that he is concerned that if a coach has not been identified by early next year, the Warriors’ chances of making an impact in the annual regional competition will be minimal.Funding has been established as the major stumbling block in securing the services of especially a foreign coach.Boois said Namibia needs a foreign coach, but funding is a factor that needs to be sorted out soon, otherwise his plans of preparing the team properly for the tournament will be thwarted.Boois plans to organise international training camps for the Warriors in Brazil or Europe early next year ahead of the Cosafa Cup, which has eluded Namibia for the past nine years.At this stage, the consortium of companies sponsoring football for the next five years has not made it clear if it would foot the bill for the national team coach and his assistant.A source at the consortium said the issue of funding the national team coach was never discussed, “but might be considered as the need arises”.The consortium, which consists of Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC), First National Bank (FNB) and Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL), sealed a N$40 million deal for Namibian football in September this year.Boois said although negotiations are currently underway with Government to possibly serve as a financial source for the new coach, it will be crucial for him as a technical director to know if money would be available for the employment of the coach before he can proceed with the organisation of the training camps and friendly matches.”We are planning to have these training camps early in the year so that we can be better prepared for the Cosafa tournament, but it will not be possible to go for them if there is no-one in charge of the team,” he said.Government pumps at least N$3 million a year into football, but more funding will be required to pay a foreign coach.”Of course he will demand a lot of money,” Boois said.Namibian coaches are not regarded as expensive, but they do not have the same technical know-how and experience as the foreigners.At this stage, no names have been identified and the position is likely to be advertised .It is not known if local coaches could also vie for the position, as Boois maintained that Namibia would “prefer a foreign coach who can take football to a different level”.Boois could not say if other avenues for funding have been sought, but said he hoped the men in charge on that front, especially the NFA secretary-general, Alpheus Gaweseb, will do their best to have money available so that the national teams can be better prepared.The Brave Warriors have fallen at the first hurdle in the Cosafa Cup for the past two years and have failed to qualify for the African Nations Cup on four consecutive occasions.Namibia only played in the 1998 Nations Cup finals in Burkina Faso.At the signing of the N$40 million sponsorship agreement, NFA president Petrus Damaseb said Namibia needed to perform consistently well in the Cosafa Cup in order to do well in the next World Cup qualifiers, which are due in September next year.He said neighbouring countries that have done well in the World Cup qualifiers are those who do well in the regional competition.Angola, which has proven to be a dominant force in the competition over the years, has qualified for the 2006 World Cup which will be held in Germany.Boois also revealed that a Brazilian football expert, who is expected to arrive in Windhoek this Sunday, will have a major influence on how Namibia should position itself for the challenges, especially on national level, for next year.He said Manuel Espezim Neto, who is a Brazilian football development consultant, will also look at the domestic league and devise ways to move it into a semi-professional status.He will also look at how the premier league will affect Namibia’s chances to qualify for the 2008 African Nations Cup in Ghana.Coaches for all national teams, starting from the under-15 side, have all been appointed by Boois in August this year, except the senior team.The last men to have led the Warriors in the Cosafa Cup were Max Johnson with David Snewe as his assistant and Ronnie Kanalelo as goalkeeper coach.Boois told The Namibian Sport yesterday that he is concerned that if a coach has not been identified by early next year, the Warriors’ chances of making an impact in the annual regional competition will be minimal.Funding has been established as the major stumbling block in securing the services of especially a foreign coach.Boois said Namibia needs a foreign coach, but funding is a factor that needs to be sorted out soon, otherwise his plans of preparing the team properly for the tournament will be thwarted.Boois plans to organise international training camps for the Warriors in Brazil or Europe early next year ahead of the Cosafa Cup, which has eluded Namibia for the past nine years.At this stage, the consortium of companies sponsoring football for the next five years has not made it clear if it would foot the bill for the national team coach and his assistant.A source at the consortium said the issue of funding the national team coach was never discussed, “but might be considered as the need arises”.The consortium, which consists of Mobile Telecommunications Limited (MTC), First National Bank (FNB) and Namibia Breweries Limited (NBL), sealed a N$40 million deal for Namibian football in September this year.Boois said although negotiations are currently underway with Government to possibly serve as a financial source for the new coach, it will be crucial for him as a technical director to know if money would be available for the employment of the coach before he can proceed with the organisation of the training camps and friendly matches.”We are planning to have these training camps early in the year so that we can be better prepared for the Cosafa tournament, but it will not be possible to go for them if there is no-one in charge of the team,” he said.Government pumps at least N$3 million a year into football, but more funding will be required to pay a foreign coach.”Of course he will demand a lot of money,” Boois said.Namibian coaches are not regarded as expensive, but they do not have the same technical know-how and experience as the foreigners.At this stage, no names have been identified and the position is likely to be advertised .It is not known if local coaches could also vie for the position, as Boois maintained that Namibia would “prefer a foreign coach who can take football to a different level”.Boois could not say if other avenues for funding have been sought, but said he hoped the men in charge on that front, especially the NFA secretary-general, Alpheus Gaweseb, will do their best to have money available so that the national teams can be better prepared.The Brave Warriors have fallen at the first hurdle in the Cosafa Cup for the past two years and have failed to qualify for the African Nations Cup on four consecutive occasions.Namibia only played in the 1998 Nations Cup finals in Burkina Faso.At the signing of the N$40 million sponsorship agreement, NFA president Petrus Damaseb said Namibia needed to perform consistently well in the Cosafa Cup in order to do well in the next World Cup qualifiers, which are due in September next year.He said neighbouring countries that have done well in the World Cup qualifiers are those who do well in the regional competition.Angola, which has proven to be a dominant force in the competition over the years, has qualified for the 2006 World Cup which will be held in Germany.Boois also revealed that a Brazilian football expert, who is expected to arrive in Windhoek this Sunday, will have a major influence on how Namibia should position itself for the challenges, especially on national level, for next year.He said Manuel Espezim Neto, who is a Brazilian football development consultant, will also look at the domestic league and devise ways to move it into a semi-professional status.He will also look at how the premier league will affect Namibia’s chances to qualify for the 2008 African Nations Cup in Ghana.