A midfield enforcer par excellence, Ronald Ketjijere gained a fearsome reputation as a hard, tough-as-nails anchorman who never allowed free passage down the middle that would leave his defenders exposed. Pretoria University were known as hard nuts to crack largely because of the stubborn refusal of the Namibian international to back down. He is one of a select few that somehow managed to juggle education with football and, after passing his LLB degree, has qualified as a lawyer in his home country. In this interview, he explains to Soccer Laduma’s Thomas Kwenaite why he sacrificed and spent sleepless nights to acquire an educational background. Ketjijere also opens up on how Peter Shalulile called on his advice, coming out of international retirement, and more…
Thomas Kwenaite: Ronald, first things first. You retired from the Brave Warriors after Egypt 2019. How did coach Collin Benjamin persuade you to come out of retirement?
Ronald Ketjijere: I retired from the Brave Warriors after the 2019 Afcon. At the time, Benjamin was assistant coach to Ricardo Mannetti. Since then, I have been in contact and for the longest period of time we have been talking as he wanted me to continue. He feels that I could add value, that I can assist and we have spoken a lot about it. Finally, it has happened. Basically, it didn’t take much to persuade me. Of course, as a patriot, whenever called upon to defend the country’s honour, you are obliged to avail yourself, so who am I to reject national duty?
