Black Africa striker Jerome Louis capped a great season by winning our FNB Player of the Season award after he received the most votes from our panel of judges, made up of the Premier League coaches and you, the readers of Namibia Sport.
Louis helped Black Africa win the Namibia Premier League title for the second year in a row while he finished as joint top goalscorer with 12 goals alongside Richard Kavendji of Hotspurs.
It was the third time over the past five seasons that he had won the top goalscorer of the season award and just underlined his high level of consistency and worth to Black Africa’s cause.
His great form has seen him get a recall to the national team after an absence of more than a year while several foreign clubs are also after his services. Through it all Louis has remained level-headed and the model professional, who always put his team first. He is a worthy winner of the award and we at Namibia Sport would like to congratulate him and wish him luck for the future.
Unfortunately Louis missed last month’s international matches due to an ankle injury, as the Brave Warriors took on Nigeria and kenya in World Cup qualifier and Liberia in an Afcon qualifier.
Namibia performed admirably away to Nigeria, before going down 1-0 after a late goal and then a week later the Brave Warriors brought joy to the nation after beating Kenya 1-0 in Windhoek.
Unfortunately this success was but fleeting as they were knocked out of the Afcon qualifiers by Liberia the following week, and now Namibia will not have a competitive match until March next year when the World Cup qualifiers resume.
This squad has a lot of potential but it is still young and inexperienced and it is imperative that more friendly matches are organised so that it can be ready for next year’s World Cup qualifiers.
July sees the start of the greatest sporting spectacle in the world, the London Olympic Games and Namibia will once again be in action among the world’s sporting elite.
We have a small squad of nine athletes and five para-athletes and although we dont have a world beater like Frank Fredericks anymore, our athletes are well prepared and determined to make their nation proud. In this issue we bring you profiles on our athletes and remember to follow our website for daily updates from the London Olympic Games.
In boxing, Immanuel Naidjala retained his WBO Interim Africa title when he beat Emilio Norfat of Kenya on points, but it was not easy as the Kenyan pushed him all the way.
Harry Simon meanwhile also retained his unbeaten status with a controversial first round KO over Rueben Groenewald of South Africa. The fight had barely started before it was over and many boxing fans claimed that the fight was fixed, with the boxers just interested in making a quick payday. That could well have been the case, although there is no denying that Simon is a huge drawcard as close to 2 000 fans packed the SKW Hall to see him in action.
Namibia’s national rugby team got off to a sluggish start when they lost 34-24 to South Africa Universities in a friendly match last month. The match served as preparation for their 2015 World Cup qualifying campaign which starts off in Madagascar, but although the start was not ideal, the team showed a lot of potential.
With a new coach in Danie Vermeulen and a new captain in Tinus du Plessis, as well as several new players in the squad, the team still needs time to grow but it has the potential to emulate its predecessors and once again qualify for the World Cup.
There is a lot more to read in the July edition of Namibia Sport, so sit back and enjoy the mag.
Helge Schutz