The October FIFA World Cup qualifiers will be key in determining the destiny of the Tafel Lager Brave Warriors in the race to reach their first ever finals as they take on Senegal in Group H.
Coach Bobby Samaria rekcons the chickens are coming home to roast when they face Senegal away on 9 October and then on 12 October at Orlando Stadium in Soweto in the return leg of their group.
“This two games are very key to how we proceed in the qualifiers. Senegal is a powerhouse but we have the drive and hunger to push them and we will plan well against them. It’s a crucial four or more pointier for us and then anything can happen”.
Samaria adds that the UK regulations will also change the dynamics of the fixture with South Africa still on the UK red-list, thus UK based players are not likely to come for the second match.
“They will have all their stars for the first match and we don’t have Ryan for our second one and we know they have depth but we need to make sure we do our part right and be clinical at both ends” ,states Samaria.
Senegal leads Group H on six points with Namibia second on four points, three points ahead of Congo in third place with Togo pointless.
The Tafel Lager Brave Warriors started training on Monday in Windhoek with 12 local-based players that includes goalkeeper Calvin Spiegel and will depart for South Africa over the weekend to join up with the rest of the players.
Ryan will join the team in Senegal and return back to the UK after the match.
After these two Senegal games, the Tafel Lager Brave Warriors will next visit to Congo and a host of Togo as the group action concludes on November, 13-16.
The top team from Group H will join nine other winners for the second round of the qualifiers who will be drawn into five home-and-away ties. The winners of each tie will advance to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup will be the 22nd edition of the FIFA World Cup and it is scheduled to take place in Qatar from 21 November to 18 December 2022.
Here is the 28 Tafel Lager Brave Warriors provisional squad:
Local legion: Calvin Spiegel, Ivan Kamberipa, Charles Hambira, Immanuel Heita, Larry Horaeb, Aprocious Petrus, Dynamo Fredericks, Alfeus Handura, Wesley Katjiteo, Marcel Papama, Absalom Iimbondi, Issaskar Gurirab.
Foreign legion: Kamaijanda Ndisiro, Lodyt Kazapua, Maximilian Mbaeva, and Virgil Vries, Ryan Nyambe, Riaan Hanamub Gebhardt Ananias, Teberius Lombardt, Denzil Haoseb, Deon Hotto, Prins Tjiueza, Willy Stephanus, Elmo Kambindu, Peter Shalulile, Joslin Kamatuka, Benson Shilongo
Source: Namibia Football Association (NFA)
