Schans prepares Brave Warriors for Malawi

The Brave Warriors have been hard at work in preparation for tomorrow evening’s friendly match against Malawi.

New coach Arie Schans arrived in Namibia from Holland on Independence Day, March 21, and since then he has held several practice sessions with the team. They also spent time analysing videos of various playing systems because, as Schans told Namibia Sport, he was keen to implement a uniform playing style for Namibia.”Unfortunately we have not had enough time together, but in this short time I have tried to bring my main ideas about coaching systems across to the players.We had a short meeting with video analysis so they know what my idea about football is all about and that’s very important because if the players and the coach don’t have the same idea about football then we cannot work together,” he said.”I hope we can establish the same idea of how to play football and to me the team is always the most important.If you are a very good individual player but you are not interested in the team task then you are not good for the team,” he added.The Namibian selectors have brought in a lot of new players in preparation for the upcoming CHAN (African Nations Championship) tournament and the World Cup qualifiers which start in May.Only locally-based players are allowed to play in the CHAN tournament with the result that several new players could make their debut for the Brave Warriors.According to Schans all the players will have an even chance of making the final line-up.”For me the Brave Warriors will always be an open team and if I find more good players in this practice squad I will have no problem to take some players from Ghana out and bring some new players in because that’s always an important element in improving football.At my first training session I already saw some new players who have a lot of good qualities,” he said.Schans said the Malawi friendly was important to help prepare Namibian players for international contests.”It will be the only friendly game we will have before our first match against Zimbabwe on May 3 so it will be very important for me that I can find the right players.For the players it will be very important to have a taste of international football so that they can understand that they have to show their fighting spirit and that they don’t get caught sleeping in the first 10 minutes like we did in Ghana against Morocco, because then the game can already be finished.For some of them it will be a new experience but they need to adjust quickly to be ready for our first official match on May 3,” he said.They also spent time analysing videos of various playing systems because, as Schans told Namibia Sport, he was keen to implement a uniform playing style for Namibia.”Unfortunately we have not had enough time together, but in this short time I have tried to bring my main ideas about coaching systems across to the players.We had a short meeting with video analysis so they know what my idea about football is all about and that’s very important because if the players and the coach don’t have the same idea about football then we cannot work together,” he said.”I hope we can establish the same idea of how to play football and to me the team is always the most important.If you are a very good individual player but you are not interested in the team task then you are not good for the team,” he added.The Namibian selectors have brought in a lot of new players in preparation for the upcoming CHAN (African Nations Championship) tournament and the World Cup qualifiers which start in May.Only locally-based players are allowed to play in the CHAN tournament with the result that several new players could make their debut for the Brave Warriors.According to Schans all the players will have an even chance of making the final line-up.”For me the Brave Warriors will always be an open team and if I find more good players in this practice squad I will have no problem to take some players from Ghana out and bring some new players in because that’s always an important element in improving football.At my first training session I already saw some new players who have a lot of good qualities,” he said.Schans said the Malawi friendly was important to help prepare Namibian players for international contests.”It will be the only friendly game we will have before our first match against Zimbabwe on May 3 so it will be very important for me that I can find the right players.For the players it will be very important to have a taste of international football so that they can understand that they have to show their fighting spirit and that they don’t get caught sleeping in the first 10 minutes like we did in Ghana against Morocco, because then the game can already be finished.For some of them it will be a new experience but they need to adjust quickly to be ready for our first official match on May 3,” he said.