Warriors not in action

THE Brave Warriors will not be in action against a Namibia Premier League (NPL) Invitational side tonight, as previously announced by the organisers of the FNB Cup.

The FNB Cup will be launched at the Sam Nujoma Stadium tonight and will instead see Civics taking on the Invitational side. The main reason is that First National Bank (FNB), which wanted the Brave Warriors to meet an NPL selected team, never requested the Namibia Football Association (NFA) ahead of time for the availability of the Warriors.NFA acting Secretary General Barry Rukoro yesterday told The Namibian Sport that he was surprised to read in the newspaper yesterday that the Warriors were lined up for a friendly match against a local invitational side.”The NFA was never approached and the national team being a sought-after product, we cannot allow people to arrange things at their own convenience without checking with us.The president (John Muinjo) called me and wanted to know why we had not informed him about the match that the team was about to play on Tuesday.I said to him that I was also not aware of this match,” he said.He said the Warriors are a brand and they need to be treated as such.”We cannot allow the team to be used by everyone for whatever purposes that are beneficial to them,” he said.He said the team will only play in recognised international friendly matches against other countries, but not against any local or regional teams.FNB’s manager for corporate communications, Cassius Moetie, yesterday said he was disappointed by the ‘reluctance’ of the NFA not to make the players available for the match.He said they were trying to do something for the national team to keep it active, but their requests are being shot down.Despite that, Brave Warriors coach Ben Bamfuchile will have a chance to look at any additions to his current squad of 29 players among the players who will be in action tonight.Namibia will play an international friendly match against Morocco in Casablanca on October 17.The match will be the right platform for the ones that are not part of the group to make an impact and be considered for the team.The invitational team will have some fine players who have so far proven to be dangerous for their clubs, despite only having gone two matches into the season so far.The invitational side will be coached by the newly appointed Black Africa coach, Smithley Engelbrecht, while current Friends team manager Murs Markus will serve in that capacity.Engelbrecht was given the prerogative to select the side by the sponsors, FNB, who will be announcing the total value of the competition at the function tonight.The invitational side has a balanced mixture of players from mostly the top sides in the premiership and most are hoping to knock themselves places into the Warriors side.The players who will go all out to impress include Civics goalkeeper and captain on the night, Esau Tjiuoro, who has been left in the cold after the arrival of Ben Bamfuchile.Tjiuoro had hand injuries and at some stage could not be considered for selection despite being one of the regulars during the eras of Max Johnson, Brian Isaacs and Dawid Snewe.The former Ramblers goalie has to work his way up if he wants to beat Pirates’ hero during the decisive Ethiopia match, Athiel Mbaha, for the post.There are also Ephraim Tjihonge and Abisai Shiningayamwe standing in his way to be at least the second or third best in the country.Defensive players such as Gerry Keister of SKW, Donnelly Nel of Civics and Andrew Tjahikika will also take their chances to be called up.Others will include Orlando Pirates midfielder Johannes Seibeb, who was also flung out of the team ahead of the Cosafa Castle Cup in Botswana, while Orlando Pirates’ stocky midfielder Riaan Cloete will also try his luck.Black Africa marksman Jerome Louis will lead the attack with Civics’ majestic goal-getter, William Chilufya.Entrance is free and the proceedings at the venue start at 18h00.The main reason is that First National Bank (FNB), which wanted the Brave Warriors to meet an NPL selected team, never requested the Namibia Football Association (NFA) ahead of time for the availability of the Warriors.NFA acting Secretary General Barry Rukoro yesterday told The Namibian Sport that he was surprised to read in the newspaper yesterday that the Warriors were lined up for a friendly match against a local invitational side.”The NFA was never approached and the national team being a sought-after product, we cannot allow people to arrange things at their own convenience without checking with us.The president (John Muinjo) called me and wanted to know why we had not informed him about the match that the team was about to play on Tuesday.I said to him that I was also not aware of this match,” he said.He said the Warriors are a brand and they need to be treated as such.”We cannot allow the team to be used by everyone for whatever purposes that are beneficial to them,” he said.He said the team will only play in recognised international friendly matches against other countries, but not against any local or regional teams.FNB’s manager for corporate communications, Cassius Moetie, yesterday said he was disappointed by the ‘reluctance’ of the NFA not to make the players available for the match.He said they were trying to do something for the national team to keep it active, but their requests are being shot down.Despite that, Brave Warriors coach Ben Bamfuchile will have a chance to look at any additions to his current squad of 29 players among the players who will be in action tonight.Namibia will play an international friendly match against Morocco in Casablanca on October 17.The match will be the right platform for the ones that are not part of the group to make an impact and be considered for the team.The invitational team will have some fine players who have so far proven to be dangerous for their clubs, despite only having gone two matches into the season so far.The invitational side will be coached by the newly appointed Black Africa coach, Smithley Engelbrecht, while current Friends team manager Murs Markus will serve in that capacity.Engelbrecht was given the prerogative to select the side by the sponsors, FNB, who will be announcing the total value of the competition at the function tonight.The invitational side has a balanced mixture of players from mostly the top sides in the premiership and most are hoping to knock themselves places into the Warriors side.The players who will go all out to impress include Civics goalkeeper and captain on the night, Esau Tjiuoro, who has been left in the cold after the arrival of Ben Bamfuchile.Tjiuoro had hand injuries and at some stage could not be considered for selection despite being one of the regulars during the eras of Max Johnson, Brian Isaacs and Dawid Snewe.The former Ramblers goalie has to work his way up if he wants to beat Pirates’ hero during the decisive Ethiopia match, Athiel Mbaha, for the post.There are also Ephraim Tjihonge and Abisai Shiningayamwe standing in his way to be at least the second or third best in the country.Defensive players such as Gerry Keister of SKW, Donnelly Nel of Civics and Andrew Tjahikika will also take their chances to be called up.Others will include Orlando Pirates midfielder Johannes Seibeb, who was also flung out of the team ahead of the Cosafa Castle Cup in Botswana, while Orlando Pirates’ stocky midfielder Riaan Cloete will also try his luck.Black Africa marksman Jerome Louis will lead the attack with Civics’ majestic goal-getter, William Chilufya.Entrance is free and the proceedings at the venue start at 18h00.