Namibia Coach, Roger Palmgren Blasts Players Poor Fitness Levels

Brave Warriors coach Roger Palmgren said Namibia’s players’ fitness levels were a disgrace when he announced the squad that will play Zambia in a friendly match at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Saturday.

Palmgren said the fitness levels of the players needed to improve drastically.

“The players underwent a fitness test (by a biokineticist) at the end of March and the results were a disgrace. The fitness levels were not good enough and we will have to work on that,” he was quoted as saying by namibiasport.com.na.

Palmgren attended Saturday’s NPL match between Black Africa and African Stars and said the standard was good although the fitness levels were not up to standard.

“It was a very interesting match and the best one I have seen so far, but it fell apart sometimes during the match due to the poor physical levels. There were highs and lows,” he said.

Palmgren said he had relied on advice from his technical staff to help select the team.

“I have only seen six matches since my arrival in Namibia, so I have been assisted by my technical staff who have a better understanding of the team. Our main purpose now will be to prepare for the friendly against Zambia, but also for the World Cup qualifiers against Malawi and Nigeria,” he said.

The squad started training on Tuesday at the Sam Nujoma Stadium and will have two daily sessions at 10h00 and 16h00.

“I hope to have three sessions per week because we must build up the physical strength of the players. The time is very short but with some magic we can do that,” Palmgren said.