Tjipenandjambi Karuuombe – better know as Tjipe by his teammates and friends – is one of the North-West University’s top young up-and-coming football players who recently got national Namibian football colours.
Karuuombe was selected for the Namibian Football Association’s u.20 squad in November and will now represent his country at the African Cup of Nations (Afcon) u.20 tournament in Mauritania in February and March this year. This will also be the first time that Nambia will have an u.20 representative at Afcon.
“The tournament will begin on 14 February and will continue until 6 March. We’re going to do our best, but we won’t have high expectations as it’s our first time taking part in a tournament of such magnitude. The draw for the groups hasn’t taken place so, right now, we’re more focused on training and doing that right before we can think about our opponents at all,” stated an excited Karuoombe.
For this talented central midfielder at NWU Tawana and second-year engineering student at De Wilgers, it was truly a dream come true to achieve national recognition. “I’ve worked and waited for such an opportunity and it felt great, even though the nerves were there as it is a much bigger stage; in fact, the biggest stage I’ve played at yet,” he stated.
“My favourite match for my country yet was the semi-final game against Angola in PE last year. That same team had beaten our u.17s 7–0 in Mauritius in 2018 and they had several players who played the u.17 World Cup and who play in Europe. Beating them and making history by being the first-ever Namibian u.20 team to qualify for Afcon was amazing,” he added. His biggest role models are his two uncles (mother’s two younger brothers) who have supported him since starting football at the age of six. The central and defensive midfielder believes he possesses several skills that will come in handy, come Afcon 2021.
“I have an excellent passing range (short and long), tactical awareness, good shooting range and excellent stamina,” he explains when asked about the skills he brings to his country. 
