Warriors to pull up socks after Shadow Team exposes weaknesses

BRAVE Warriors coach Max Johnson says the national soccer team needs to improve in several areas after it was almost humiliated by The Namibian Shadow Team during an exhibition match at Oshakati on Monday.

The Warriors ended as 3-2 winners after a last minute goal by defender Nelson Geingob. The Warriors struggled to dominate the encounter against a selected side from The Namibian Newspaper Cup’s tournament held at the Oshakati Independence Stadium over the Easter weekend.But, Johnson believes that the side can improve on the performance as they only played as a team for the first time on Monday.The Warriors have never played in Oshakati before and their trip to the North was made possible by The Namibian newspaper which availed N$20 000 for the cause.He said although people criticised the team after being given an uphill battle by the Shadow Team, Johnson is optimistic about the future.”People complained after the match that the performance was not up to scratch, but they need to understand that we are still trying to put the right combinations together to form a team that can play as a unit.We need to improve in some areas that we have shown weaknesses and that we need to address soon,” he said.He said Monday’s game had given him a better idea of the type of players he was dealing with and had now looked at their strengths and weaknesses.”Despite the absence of some players such as Amos Shiyuka, Floris Diergaardt and others who were not present, I am able to tell who played impressively and I also know what to do next,” Johnson said.Shiyuka (work commitments), Diergaardt (injured), Enrico Botes (injured) and Michael Pienaar (injured), were not part of the group which travelled to Oshakati.Defender and captain Richard Gariseb travelled with the team, but did not play on the day.Johnson said that a lot of people expected the Warriors to finish-off the match with a big win, but he was happy with the 3-2 score in the end.”Some players played well and I was very happy with that, while some simply did not perform up to their level best,” he said.Johnson could not say if he had spotted any potential players from The Shadow team that can possibly join the Brave Warriors squad.”I cannot tell you that at this stage, but the doors are still open for players to be included in the senior side,” he said.Namibia is playing Angola on May 9 in a Cosafa Castle Cup match in Luanda.Thenext friendly match will be against Botswana of which the date has not yet been decided on.Meanwhile, several players have been identified at the tournament for the inclusion into Namibia Under 20 side, but the full list of players was not yet released by yesterday.See full match report on Warriors vs Shadow Team in Newspaper Cup supplement.The Warriors struggled to dominate the encounter against a selected side from The Namibian Newspaper Cup’s tournament held at the Oshakati Independence Stadium over the Easter weekend.But, Johnson believes that the side can improve on the performance as they only played as a team for the first time on Monday.The Warriors have never played in Oshakati before and their trip to the North was made possible by The Namibian newspaper which availed N$20 000 for the cause.He said although people criticised the team after being given an uphill battle by the Shadow Team, Johnson is optimistic about the future.”People complained after the match that the performance was not up to scratch, but they need to understand that we are still trying to put the right combinations together to form a team that can play as a unit.We need to improve in some areas that we have shown weaknesses and that we need to address soon,” he said.He said Monday’s game had given him a better idea of the type of players he was dealing with and had now looked at their strengths and weaknesses.”Despite the absence of some players such as Amos Shiyuka, Floris Diergaardt and others who were not present, I am able to tell who played impressively and I also know what to do next,” Johnson said.Shiyuka (work commitments), Diergaardt (injured), Enrico Botes (injured) and Michael Pienaar (injured), were not part of the group which travelled to Oshakati.Defender and captain Richard Gariseb travelled with the team, but did not play on the day.Johnson said that a lot of people expected the Warriors to finish-off the match with a big win, but he was happy with the 3-2 score in the end.”Some players played well and I was very happy with that, while some simply did not perform up to their level best,” he said.Johnson could not say if he had spotted any potential players from The Shadow team that can possibly join the Brave Warriors squad.”I cannot tell you that at this stage, but the doors are still open for players to be included in the senior side,” he said.Namibia is playing Angola on May 9 in a Cosafa Castle Cup match in Luanda.Thenext friendly match will be against Botswana of which the date has not yet been decided on.Meanwhile, several players have been identified at the tournament for the inclusion into Namibia Under 20 side, but the full list of players was not yet released by yesterday.See full match report on Warriors vs Shadow Team in Newspaper Cup supplement.