Recently-appointed Brave Gladiators coach Paulus Shipanga says he is convinced his players will be ready when they participate at the upcoming Council for Southern African Football Associations (COSAFA) Senior Women’s tournament scheduled for end of August in South Africa.

Speaking to Nampa at the Namibia Football Association (NFA) technical centre, Shipanga said things were moving smoothly at the moment as players are still reporting for training daily.

“So far so good. Players are still coming in; we are waiting for a couple of them who are still making their way to the camp. We have 33 today and we should have more by Monday,” he said.

The former Black Africa and Blue Waters coach said as a technical team, they are busy working hard on improving the girls’ fitness level.

Shipanga said most players had not really played competitive football while a few are nursing injuries sustained from playing rugby in recent months due to the absence of football.

Shipanga who is assisted by Thuba Sibanda and Alfie Ndyenge said they will play a few friendly matches locally with teams yet to be identified (if they fail to get one, they will play against each other), while they are still waiting for the draw to see whom they will face before organising international friendlies.

The team trains twice daily Monday to Friday while on Saturday they have one session and Sundays are off days for recovery.

Shipanga added that they have brought in a few new players from the junior teams so as to have a look at them before trimming down the team sometime next week.

While the team has been in camp since Monday, the official camp is expected to commence next week, giving a full month to prepare for the tournament.

The 2022 COSAFA Women’s Championship will be its 10th edition, a women’s international football tournament for national teams from southern Africa organised by COSAFA.

Tanzania is the defending champions having defeated Malawi 1-0 in the October 2021 final.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency