Kanalelo proud of progress despite FC Ongos departure

Former FC Ongos men’s football team head coach Ronny Kanalelo says he leaves the club proud of the progress made during his tenure, despite stepping down from the role.

Kanalelo was appointed in November 2025 and guided FC Ongos to a fourth-place finish in the 2025/26 Namibia Premier Football League season.

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) A Licence coach officially parted ways with the club on Wednesday, with immediate effect.

Speaking to Nampa, Kanalelo said the club had established a solid foundation and made significant progress, despite facing challenges in strengthening the squad.

“Considering where we started as a team, we laid a good foundation and made progress. However, we were unable to strengthen the squad in the way we had hoped,” he said.

Kanalelo said every club’s ambitions must be matched by its available resources, noting that financial constraints limited the team’s ability to recruit players suited to its technical and tactical approach.

“When you look at what you have and what you want to achieve, everything is determined by your objectives. Some players may not fit into the technical and tactical way you want the team to play, but we worked with what we had to achieve some of our goals,” he said.

The league-winning coach said he had hoped to build on the team’s encouraging campaign by improving the squad ahead of the new season, in line with the club’s ambitions and preferred style of play.

“The club identified potential transfer targets who could have strengthened the squad, but the cost of bringing in those players proved too high. We looked at possible acquisitions, but the club felt it would be too expensive to make those changes,” Kanalelo said.

He added that while every coach aspires to compete for league honours, sustained success depends on continued investment in the playing squad.

“When you want to win the league, you must improve the squad, and that comes with finances. Unfortunately, that became a stumbling block for us. As a coach, I realised it was better to allow someone else to carry this team’s dreams forward because I would not want the progress we made last season to be overlooked,” he said.

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