| THIS WEEK IN THE KHUTA |
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| Written by Chamwe Kaira | ||||
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Let me start by saying supporting the Brave Warriors should be declared a health risk by Minister Richard Kamwi. The poor showing of the team recently can lead to hypertension, a heart attack, depression and even bouts of suicidal feelings.
Whatever happened to the pride of the nation, which 10
years ago, was causing havoc to African teams? Bafana Bafana can
testify on this. Ten years on, the Namibian national soccer team and its administration is a circus. Now we have another new coach, new ideas, new expectations and fresh hope. I am sorry if I sound pessimist, but the usual circus is likely to develop again. The new coach, Tom Saintfiet, who only has a few days to prepare a team he does not know, will be in charge for a few games. Namibia will not win the Cosafa Cup and the football association will fire him and then we will be back at square one. There are number of reasons why our national soccer team is in such shambles. First of all, the Namibia Football Association lacks a long-term goal. The association has myopic view. What is Namibia’s long-term plan with regards to soccer? If the association had a long-term goal, they would not be appointing and firing coaches at will. We have the youth teams, U/17, U/20 and U/23. These teams, year in and year out, fail to qualify for the Olympics, African youth tournaments and youth world cups. Now if the future Brave Warriors are supposed to come from these teams, which are not performing, how do we expect the Brave Warriors to be a strong team? We need a plan for youth teams, good soccer players don’t just pop up at the age of 22, they are identified and groomed from a young age. I agree with the cliché that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. There are just some basics techniques you cannot learn at the age of 27. When the late Zambian Ben Bamfuchile fell ill last year on the eve of the nations cup in Ghana, the association quickly brought in Dutchman Arie Schans, whose football pedigree was not even good enough to coach A Shipena secondary school in Katutura. Schans came in without an interview or the job being advertised. I understand there was no time to prepare for Ghana but why not hire a good coach? After almost 12 winless games, Schans was fired quietly and Saintfiet, a 35-year-old was hired. Saintfiet’s pedigree is similar to Schans. |
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