Katjatenja in Dream Debut

AFRICAN Stars striker Gerson Katjatenja had a dream debut when he scored a goal in Namibia's 2-1 win over Malawi in a friendly football match in Blantyre on Friday.

The towering Stars lethal man was included in the Brave Warriors squad which toured Malawi late last week, as part of that country's Independence celebrations.

The dynamic Rudolph Bester of Eleven Arrows was the other scorer for the Warriors, which were led by assistant coaches Ronnie Kanalelo and Brian Isaacs.

It was the second goal that Bester has scored against Malawi, after he also hit the net during the 2006 Cosafa Castle Cup which was played in Windhoek.

Namibia won that match 3-2.

Katjatenja, who virtually worked his way into the national fold through some fine displays during the domestic premiership, could not ask for anything more than a goal during his first match for the country.

Katjatenja, who is only 25 years of age, is the leading striker at Stars and his inclusion in the national side came as a surprise to him about two weeks ago.

The shy and soft speaking Katjatenja said he always had a dream to play for the national side and while at Stars, vowed that he will make it to the national team one day.

He became the fourth player from Stars in recent years to be included in the national side after Mali Ngarizemo, Johannes Seibeb and Freedom Puriza.

Puriza plays for the under 20 national side and is still considered to be too young for the senior team.

Katjatenja has never played for the junior teams and his inclusion in the side was prompted by the lack of sufficient strikers in the senior team.

Katjatenja and Bester led the attack for the Warriors in Malawi in the absence of foreign-based international Collin Benjamin, who was used in that role for especially the African nations Cup qualifiers.

Despite picking a relatively inexperienced side for the encounter, assistant coaches Kanalelo and Isaacs succeeded in clinching their first victory in the absence of head coach Ben Bamfuchile.

Kanaleo earlier said that he was certain of a victory in Malawi and this will serve as a morale booster for the players, whom most will be expected to compete in the Cosafa Castle Cup at the end of this month.

The match was also meant to give the local players a chance to gain experience in competitive international matches.

Namibia will face Botswana in Gaborone on July 28, a match which the Warriors need to win to progress to the finals of the four team mini tournament on Sunday.

The semi-finals of the competition will be played in September.

Namibia has failed to reach the final stages of the Cosafa Cup for the past five years.