The Namibia Football Association (NFA) has announced the appointment of Nicholas Woody Jacobs as the interim head coach of the National Women’s Team.
The announcement was made at a press conference by NFA secretary-general Franco Cosmos at Football House on Tuesday in Windhoek.
Jacobs said he was surprised by the appointment but felt honoured to be handed such a difficult task.
“It will be a tough assignment for us, but we will be ready to compete. Our group is tough but we aim to give it our best shot. Currently, there are 35 girls in training and I will assess all of them before announcing the squad for the tournament and the qualifier,” Jacobs said.
Jacobs was referring to the upcoming Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) tournament scheduled for Port Elizabeth, South Africa from 28 September to 09 October, two weeks later than originally scheduled.
The former Brave Gladiators assistant coach will also be in charge of the team for the upcoming Africa Women’s Cup of Nations (AWCON) Qualifiers against Tanzania.
The first leg of the qualifiers will be played in Port Elizabeth because all Namibian football stadiums are currently banned from hosting international matches, while the second leg will take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
These first qualifying round matches will take place on 18 and 26 October 2021 while the second qualifying round will take place on 14 and 23 February 2022.
The AWCON will take place in Morocco next year.
Jacobs will be assisted by Uerikondjera Mamie Kasaona, while Herbert Kapeng will be the goalkeeper coach.
The technical team will be completed by Virginia Tjihero as fitness coach, Justine Amupolo as kit manager and Natasha Cloete as team manager.
The squad of 35 is currently training at Football House and will be trimmed to 25 just before the team leaves for South Africa where they will be camped for over a month as they prepare and play in the two competitions.
Namibia is in Group C with Zambia, Eswatini and guest nation Uganda.
Source: The Namibia Press Agency
