THE Brave Warriors regular captain Ronald 'Stigga' Ketjijere has backed his teammates to prevail in Saturday's Cosafa Cup quarterfinal clash against South Africa in Lusaka.
Ketjijere, who stars for South African Premiership side University of Pretoria, has been out of action for two months, since fracturing his foot in 'AmaTuks' final match of last season against Kaizer Chiefs, but has followed the Brave Warriors progress with keen interest from the sidelines and is confident that they wil
"I'd like to wish the boys the best of luck. They have already made the nation proud by qualifying for the quarterfinals and they should not play under any pressure against South Africa," he said.
Ketjijere also offered the team some advice on how to handle criticism.
"They must ignore the critics and negative things being said about them. There is one thing in life they should know, that they can't please everybody. As far as I am concerned they have had a superb tournament and they should keep the fire burning and go all out against South Africa," he added.
Since fracturing his foot, Ketjijere has kept in shape by cycling in the gym and working on his upper body strength. He has also been an avid follower of the Brave Warriors' fortunes and was in the stands at the Sam Nujoma Stadium to cheer them on in last month's 1-1 draw against Nigeria.
"The Brave Warriors had a brilliant game against Nigeria and you could see the players were hungry and wanted to be more on the ball. They were very mobile and made runs behind the defence and gave Nigeria a lot of problems. Nigeria couldn't cope with our pace and hustling and we were just unlucky that Nigeria got a freekick out of nowhere, because that was not a foul."
Ketjijere admitted that it was not easy to watch from the sidelines.
"Emotionally I was there on the field with my team mates, and you feel anxious throughout the game. I always want to be part of the team, but you cant always be," he said.
Ketjijere also gave his full support to Ricardo Mannetti who took over as head coach last month.
"Ricardo has been around for a while and has been assistant to many head coaches. He knows the system and the strong points of all the players in the squad. A foreign coach first has to study all the players, but Ricardo has been with them from Under 20 level, so he knows them already, and the players are willing to work for him," he said.
"I think the team should start to gel now and the results should follow. I have a lot of confidence in the technical staff, I know what the players are capable of, and I wish the boys the best of luck," he added.
RISING STOCK
Ketjijere has had a fine season for AmaTuks, since joining them at the beginning of last season. He immediately established himself in the starting eleven as a defensive midfielder and played in most of their matches throughout the season.
He was one of AmaTuks' star players and was nominated for the Player of the Year award at their season-ending prize giving ceremony, and although he did not win the award, losing out to goalkeeper Washington Arubi, he was satisfied with his performances throughout the season.
"It's been an awesome season. We had two targets at the start - to maintain our PSL status and to finish in the Top Eight and we achieved both. We also had a good finish and came second behind Platinum Stars in the final quarter of the PSL," he said.
"I think I was consistent throughout the season, but played some great games against the big clubs like Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates and Mamelodi Sundowns. I always like to challenge myself and I'm more motivated when I play against the big teams," he added.
Ketjijere excelled against Sundowns, expertly nullifying star midfielder Teko Modise to win the Man of the Match award.
"It's a big motivating factor to play in front of so many fans there. When we played against Sundowns I was determined to mark Teko Modise out of the game and I managed to do that.
I picked him up throughout the game and won the man of the match award. I'd say that was probably the highlight of my season, because for a newcomer it's not easy to make your mark in a different environment and country," he said.
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