Namibia’s Immanuel Heita ruled out of CHAN 2018

by Phumzile Ngcatshe

Thursday Jan 04, 2018. 11:30

Namibia’s Immanuel Heita has been ruled out of the 2018 CAF African Nations Championship due to an injury.

Coach Ricardo Mannetti has confirmed the development as they prepare to jet out of the country en route to Morocco.

Heita, a key figure in the Warriors defence, is sidelined with a knee injury.

He picked up the injury during training in Tunis where the Brave Warriors have been preparing since December 28.

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"[Immanuel] Lucky Heita looks like he will not recover in time for the tournament. He picked up a knee injury. Other than that, there are no other injury worries," Mannetti said to the Namibian.

"The spirit is very competitive.

"Internal competition is good because then it means we will be very competitive externally when we face our opponents in Morocco. Everyone wants be part of this experience."

The 42-year-old added that competition is intense as players jostle for positions in the final 23-man squad, which will be announced before leaving for Morocco on January 11.

Namibia are in Group B with Cote d’Ivoire, Zambia and Uganda.