Interim Brave Gladiators head coach Woody Jacobs says Namibia’s senior national women’s football team can only continue to learn and grow, as long as certain things are done the right way.
Speaking at a media conference in Windhoek on Thursday, Jacobs said the players have proven that they can compete with the best as long as the local league becomes competitive, the national team gets to play competitive games against quality oppositions, and there is stability in management.
“We stood tall against Tanzania and Zambia in the WAFCON (Women’s Africa Cup of Nations) qualifiers. Against Zambia, we could have won the match had we taken our chances. This team can just go on and reach milestones never reached before,” he said.
He went on to say that the team must try and win the Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) Women’s Championship as this will spur the team on to fight for the WAFCON qualification.
The title-winning coach said the current crop of players need to play professional football because locally, they have reached their ceiling, a situation that prevents the development of upcoming players.
Jacobs said he is available to coach the team on a permanent basis as it takes time for a coach to get the players to understand their philosophy.
“Coaching is a process as it takes time for someone to build a national team that can challenge for qualification and trophies. Former Brave Warriors coach Mannetti (Ricardo) had the team for six to eight years and he did build a formidable team through a process,” he explained.
He further called on all top-flight teams in the country to each establish a women’s team so as to balance the Namibia Women’s Super League, which is currently imbalanced because the majority of the players are from one club, Tura Magic.
Jacobs concluded by emphasising that the Gladiators can be a force to reckon with as long as things are done the right way to promote women’s football.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency