Johnson confirmed as Warriors coach

THE Namibia Football Association (NFA) yesterday confirmed the appointment of Max Johnson as the care-taker coach of the Brave Warriors.

His appointment takes effect immediately. Johnson, currently the coach of Marathon Sugar Chief Santos, is expected to announce his training group of the Brave Warriors on Sunday morning, before his team takes on Benfica in the New Era Sam Nujoma Cup at Oshakati.It will be the first time that the the national team will be announced in Oshakati, while the training schedule for the team is also expected to be made public.Johnson, who also heads a school in Tsumeb, has been mandated to take the team to the knockout Cosafa Castle Cup match against Angola in Luanda on May 9.Johnson, who also coached at national junior level, takes over from German Technical Director Peter Ueberjahn, who resigned late last year.Ueberjahn stepped down after Namibia lost to Rwanda 4-1 on aggregate in the 2006 World Cup and Nations Cup preliminary qualifiers.Namibia has changed coaches 12 times since entering the international footballing arena in 1992.If Namibia is knocked out of Cosafa by Angola, the national team will not have official international fixtures until after three years as the team has been eliminated from the 2006 World Cup and Nations Cup qualifying groups.In 1998, Namibia competed in the final of the African Nations Cup in Burkina Faso, which served as the highest feat they have ever achieved.So far, the Brave Warriors have lost 19 out of 26 international matches and this has also led to their slump on the world football rankings.Johnson, currently the coach of Marathon Sugar Chief Santos, is expected to announce his training group of the Brave Warriors on Sunday morning, before his team takes on Benfica in the New Era Sam Nujoma Cup at Oshakati.It will be the first time that the the national team will be announced in Oshakati, while the training schedule for the team is also expected to be made public.Johnson, who also heads a school in Tsumeb, has been mandated to take the team to the knockout Cosafa Castle Cup match against Angola in Luanda on May 9.Johnson, who also coached at national junior level, takes over from German Technical Director Peter Ueberjahn, who resigned late last year.Ueberjahn stepped down after Namibia lost to Rwanda 4-1 on aggregate in the 2006 World Cup and Nations Cup preliminary qualifiers.Namibia has changed coaches 12 times since entering the international footballing arena in 1992.If Namibia is knocked out of Cosafa by Angola, the national team will not have official international fixtures until after three years as the team has been eliminated from the 2006 World Cup and Nations Cup qualifying groups.In 1998, Namibia competed in the final of the African Nations Cup in Burkina Faso, which served as the highest feat they have ever achieved.So far, the Brave Warriors have lost 19 out of 26 international matches and this has also led to their slump on the world football rankings.