Three new players who represented Namibia at the Four Nations tournament in Angola last weekend, have once again received national call-ups for Thursday’s Fifa World Cup qualifier against Guinea in Windhoek.
They are Dynamo Fredericks, Ferdinand Karongee and Jonas Sakaria.
These three impressed national coach Ricardo Mannetti in Angola and have been given another chance to prove themselves worthy of donning national colours.
Fredericks, who plays as a right-back for Black Africa, came on as a substitute against Angola last Friday, but was placed on the right wing where he did exceptionally during the 20 minutes he played.
In the game against Zambia, Mannetti put Fredericks in the starting line-up. Again he did not disappoint and made the right wing his own, outrunning his Zambian opponents and creating two goal-scoring opportunities for Heinrich Isaacks who unfortunately could not convert it.
Midfielder Sakaria also played in both matches and displayed physical strength and brilliant passing.
“Defender Karongee did not put a foot wrong throughout the two matches he played,” said Mannetti on the team’s arrival in Namibia on Sunday.
He told Nampa the trio showed they are prepared to be included in his future plans.
“We always have a problem when we call up players to represent their nation at international level. They find it very difficult to shine on that stage and are always out-shined by their opponents.
“But I was really impressed by the work rate some of these players showed when called upon to play. Jonas was called up to the senior national team for the first time and he delivered just like a professional,” said Mannetti, who first called up Sakaria at under 20 national level some years back.
Mannetti said that his technical team would not have much of a problem with who to field when players like Petrus Shitembi, Wangu Gome, Heinrich Isaacks, Willy Stephanus and Ronald Ketjijere are not available.
The coach added that Karongee is a late bloomer but has the same work ethic as Sakaria.
“Ferdinard played both games in Angola and marked some top strikers and was just outstanding in terms of his positioning and overall awareness. He can fight for a place in the current first team, which is good.
“Mashaba (Ferdinard) showed me that he has learned a lot in the three months that I have been working with him in the national team,” he stated.
Fredericks was voted Man of the Match in the game against Zambia by his teammates.
“I played Dynamo on the right wing, a position he is not used to playing at club level, and he blew us all away. He was confident and showed maturity in that position, playing as if he has been playing in that position for a long time.
“People should not be shocked if they see him playing in that position on a permanent basis at national level. With such a display, I cannot exclude such players from my plans of building a stronger team for the future,” said Mannetti.
Namibia lost its opening game of the tournament 1-0 to Angola, before beating Zambia 4-3 on penalties after a 0-0 draw, to win the third place play-off.
The tournament formed part of Angola’s 40th independence celebrations, which is officially celebrated on 11 November. – Nampa
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