The Brave Gladiators are set to play a friendly match against Botswana as part of the Namibian Independence celebrations on 19 March at the Independence Stadium in Windhoek.
The match will be part of the Gladiators’ preparations for their second round Olympic qualifier against the number one ranked women’s team in Africa, Nigeria on April 2 in Lagos.
“The friendly will provide the technical team an opportunity to work on tactical combinations. We are going to show our serious intentions to cause a major upset when we travel and host the African Champions Nigeria on the 2nd of April and the 16th in Windhoek at the Sam Nujoma Stadium,” the coach of the Gladiators, Jacqui Shipanga said.
Brave Warriors assistant coach and Tigers coach, Ronny Kanalelo has been roped in to help with the goalkeeper coaching.
“Currently the girls’ goalkeeper caretaker coach is Pappie Bonifacius and he is doing a good job but I want the best in the country to also add value to the team. And that is the reason I approached Ronny, not only is he qualified but his conduct is very professional and he is competent for the mammoth task at hand and that is all I am interested in right now,” Shipanga added.
Namibia qualified for the second round of the Olympic qualifiers after they drew 2-2 against Angola in their away match and then drew 0-0 in Windhoek two weeks later on 29 January.
In the first two matches, Shipanga experimented with a largely Under 20 team and has decided to stick with the same strategy.
Shipanga has called up a squad of 24 players for the match against Botswana and the players are expected to attend a training camp on Wednesday 9 March.
She has called up four goalkeepers with Meriam Swartbooi as the addition to the team that normally has Susana Eises, Novata Paulus and Rejoice Tjiterua.
In defense, Shipanga dropped Bonita Eixas and Natasha Ndau and included Mariana Gaebetsi from the Omaheke region.
Kleintjie Fredericks has also been called up to beef up the strikers along with Toshi Haufiku from the Oshikoto region. Fredericks was eligible for selection again after she apologised for absconding from the national camp following Namibia’s 5-1 defeat to Equatorial Guinea last year in May.
The Gladiators are ranked 18th in Africa while Botswana are 21st.
The list of players called up for the camp is attached.
| Attachment | Size |
|---|---|
| Gladiators team for Botswana.doc | 30 KB |