Namibian Under 20 football coach Ronnie Kanalelo said they are well prepared and ready for the Cosafa U20 Championships, which start in Lesotho on Tuesday, next week.
The Namibian team has been in camp for the past three weeks and according to Kanalelo, preparations at the training camp have been going well, where they have fine-tuned their combinations and tactics.
“My assistant Timo Tjongarero and I have been working really hard with the boys and it has been all about finding the right combinations and drilling the tactics in and thus far the response from the boys has been very pleasing,” Kanalelo said.
He revealed that the Namibian team plans to play a high-tempo game and suffocate their opponents with speed and structure, and score goals to progress as far as possible.
“We plan to play fast football, with a lot of numbers involved in our play in terms of going forward and defending as well. It is also about keeping the structure of the team at all times, pressing the opponents high in their own half, and playing for each other and for the team’s cause,’ Kanalelo said.
Kanalelo however acknowledged that it won’t be easy since Namibia has been drawn in one of the toughest groups, along with the defending champions Zambia, South Africa and Seychelles.
“We will face tough competition during the tournament and we will respect all the teams that we will play. We all want to win and it won’t be easy, but we will have to work hard for victories, which will be very important going forward. Zambia are the defending champions and are physical and quick and we will try to stretch them as far as possible and see what we can get,” he said.
The Namibian team is scheduled to depart for Maseru over the weekend, while their first match is against Zambia on 4 December. Their other group matches are against Seychelles on 7 December and South Africa on 10 December. Only the group winner will advance to the semi-finals.
The Namibian squad is as follows:
Goalkeepers: Edward Maova and Donovan Gaunub
Defenders: Innocent Tembo, Fimaneka Kabungu, Ananias Nakambuli, Ivan Kamberipa, Nathan Gideon, Salom Pamp and Marius Kotze.
Midfielders: Brendan Goagoseb, Esko Kavela, Mcbride Ndjavera, Issensius Mutuku, Glen Kamutjete Wendell Rudath and Marco Somseb.
Strikers: Terdius Uiseb, Ambrosius Amseb, Henrico Hoebeb and Gerland Kaengurova.
