Namibia: Kanalelo to Lead Warriors

BRAVE Warriors assistant coach Ronnie Kanalelo will lead the national side to Malawi for a friendly international match on Thursday, after it emerged that head coach Ben Bamfuchile, cannot make it due to illness.

The Namibian Sport confirmed yesterday that Bamfuchile would be staying home on instruction from his doctor due to persistent tension in his stomach.


"Ronnie will be leading the team to Malawi because I am not able to make it due to illness," said Bamfuchile.

Namibia is expected to play against Malawi in a warm-up friendly match on Thursday as part of their preparations ahead of the Cosafa Castle Cup in Botswana at the end of this month.

The team will mostly consist of local-based players, as the foreign internationals will be rested for the Botswana match.

Kanalelo and Brian Isaacks are the two assistant coaches to Bamfuchile and were appointed by the Namibia Football Association (NFA) to help Bamfuchile find a winning combination.

Kanalelo has in the past been criticised by football fans that claim that he seemed to be more in charge of the team than the head coach.

When asked about the role of Kanalelo, the NFA said that Bamfuchile was the head coach and that Kanalelo had all the right to shout instructions, as he was the assistant coach.

NFA acting secretary-general Barry Rukoro at the time said that Kanalelo was in fact not a goalkeeper coach, but was on equal footing as Isaacks who was previously considered to be the second in command after Bamfuchile.

Kanalelo, generally a short tempered character, has alongside Bamfuchile and Isaacks vowed to ensure the success of the team and refuses to be distracted by the criticisms of demanding football fans.

So far, Bamfuchile has won only three matches from a total of 11 he has managed since his appointment early last year.

Bamfuchile beat Malawi (3-2) in a Cosafa Cup in July last year and his next victory was over Ethiopia (1-0) in an Nations Cup qualifier in October last year.

His third victory with the Warriors was against Libya (1-0) last month, also in an African Nations Cup qualifier.

He only has one draw against the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) (1-1) also played last month.

The losses he recorded were against Seychelles in July last year (2-4 on penalties after a 1-all draw), South Africa in a friendly international in August last year (1-0) and against DRC in a Nations Cup qualifier in September last year (3-2).

The next defeat was against Libya in a Nations Cup match in October last year (2-0).

He also fell against Zimbabwe in an international friendly in November last year (3-2) as well as Botswana in another international friendly in February this year (1-0).

He also lost against his native country Zambia (2-1) in another international friendly in May.

Despite a poor record in international friendlies, Bamfuchile earlier indicated that he was determined to build a team, which will bring results in future.

His record in the Nations Cup is better than the friendly matches, while he still needs to prove himself in the Cosafa Cup.

In his short stint with the Warriors, Bamfuchile has received praise in some quarters for his winning formula against Libya and for containing DRC in the absence of a lethal striker.

He also came under fire due to his inability to find a striker, while some senior players who left the team partly blamed his technical staff for failing to take responsibility when the team loses.

For now, Bamfuchile's main task is to qualify for the 2008 African Nations Cup in Ghana, while he is also expected to reach the last stages of the Cosafa Castle Cup.

He will dearly hope that DRC loses at home against Libya in their last Group match and at the same time ensure that Namibia beat Ethiopia.

The next matches in the continental event will only be in September, but at that time, Bamfuchile will be expected to assemble some of the finest players, as the domestic league would be expected to start in August already.