Warriors simply offensive

BRAVE Warriors coach Tom Saintfiet has an abundance of offensive players to choose from when Namibia face Swaziland in an international friendly at the Sam Nujoma Stadium tomorrow. Kick-off is at 16h00.

Saintfiet boasts with eight forwards who can cause havoc for any defence and Swaziland better come prepared as the Warriors are eager to make an impression at the Astroturf in Katutura tomorrow.The notable hitmen who arrived for the match this weekend include the extremely skilful Rudolf Bester, the never-say-die Platinum front-man, Henrico Botes, pacy wingers Sidney Plaatjies and Paulus Shipanga from Mamelodi Sundowns and Bay United respectively. Also, he can employ the talented Civics goal-getter Eslin Kamuhanga, while his teammate Heinrich Isaacs can equally do the damage in that department.Apart from those players, Saintfiet has the explosive and rather opportunistic Wilko Risser in the side, who will surely aim to hit the target if given a chance.Another is the hot Hotspurs striker Edward Asino, who can also bang in goals with ease.Yesterday, Saintfiet kept his front-men guessing who will be part of the final 18, saying that he will only announce the team two and half hours before the encounter.’We have already lost striker Jerome Louis and midfielder Quinton Jacobs who will both not be part of the team as they are only arriving today from Lebanon, while defender Ivan Namaseb is also out. So, that leaves us with 22 players and I will possibly just leave two or so before the match,’ said Saintfiet.He said the fact that most of the players are offensive, he will possibly use one all-out striker, while the other will play from the infield.’We want to win this game and I know its not going to be easy. It will be the first time that most of our foreign-based players will play together on the artificial pitch as well and surely we want to give the fans a good result. I want a good result too and I am calling on everybody to come and support the team,’ he said.Swaziland is one of the minnows on the continent, but Saintfiet believes that their recent run which sees them at position 81 in the world shows that they are capable enough of beating any team. Namibia is currently ranked 103 in the world.’We are not going to take them lightly. I will field the strongest team on the day and the objective is to come out with a positive result. I don’t want to lose and I am also not saying that we are going to play relaxed football because it is a friendly,’ he said.Saintfiet said he also has no worries with the defence, with the experience of George Hummel, Hartman Toromba and Richard Gariseb expected to come in handy on the day.’They are solid defenders and it leaves me with little doubt that we will fail in that area. The goalkeepers have been great this week at training and I have seen a lot of competition among themselves which is a good sign,’ he said.The trio of Athiel Mbaha, Virgil Vries and Zico Shiningayamwe will vie for the number one jersey on the day.Meanwhile, Saintfiet said Collin Benjamin and Shipanga, who suffered minor injuries in a car accident, will be ready and fit for the match.The two suffered minor injuries after the team’s bus was involved in a accident with a truck on their way to training on Wednesday. The entrance fee is N$30 for the grandstand and open stands, while VIP’s are expected to fork out N$300 per person. corry@namibian.com.na