The Brave Warriors will be hoping to repeat their fine form of late when they take on Swaziland in a friendly match at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Saturday afternoon. In their last two matches in Windhoek, Namibia notched up big victories, beating Zimbabwe 4-2 in October 2008 and DR Congo 4-0 in June 2009. In between they also notched up three draws - 0-0 against Botswana in Keetmanshoop, 1-1 against Lebanon in Beirut and 0-0 against Angola in Dundo.
Namibia, in fact, have not lost a match since September 2008 when they lost 1-0 to Kenya in a World Cup qualifier in Nairobi. Consequently their FIFA world ranking has shot up to 101 in the world, which signifies a big improvement over the past year. When coach Tom Saintfiet took over the hot seat in July 2008 Namibia were still ranked 131 in the world.
The team for Saturday’s match will only be announced about two hours before kickoff, but it could look like this:
Athiel Mbaha should start in goal, as he has been preferred by Saintfiet in all of Namibia’s recent matches.
In defence, Ivan Namaseb has been ruled out due to a knee injury. George Hummel and Richard Gariseb should start at the centre of defence with Hartman Toromba and Nelson Geingob on the defensive wings. Oliver Riser could be moved back into a central defensive position as well.
In midfield, Oliver Risser and Ninja Karongee will contest the defensive midfield role, while the central midfield roles could go to Collin Benjamin, Razundara Tjikuzu and Rudolph Bester. The wing attacks will see Heini Isaacks and Paulus Shipanga fighting for a place on the one wing and Sydney Plaatjies, Eslin Kamuhanga and Edward Asino on the other wing.
The striker should be Wilko Risser or Henrico Botes.
Other players in the squad that coud get a run include Ralph Ellinger and Steven Goaxub in defence and Rudi Louw in midfield.