The Young Gladiators defeated Zimbabwe 1-0 at the UNAM stadium on Sunday,6 July. Ontheedite Tokwane came through with a goal in the last half of the match giving Namibia the much-needed confidence going into their last fixture. Nancy Lebang scooped the player of the match award.
“It was a very tough game, Zimbabwe played a defensive match and man marked one of our key players but overall, it worked for us, and we managed to score and not concede a goal. The win is a moral booster for the girls and going into the final fixture of the group stage this is the motivation we needed.”
“We were more composed on the ball in this match, we are currently at four points and we are playing Botswana who already qualified – it will not be an easy match, the technical team watched some of their games and they are tactically good and fast on the ball but we are optimistic and have a good chance of breaking through.
At the Dr Hage Geingob Stadium, the Young Warriors caused an upset when they eliminated Zimbabwe from the tournament. Warriors playmaker, Suveree Kauzuu opened the score line while Rashid Noabeb scored a brace to see the host team defeat Zimbabwe 3-2. Rashid Noabeb walked away with the player of the match award.Namibia is set to play Malawi in their final group match. As it currently stands, Namibia must defeat Malawi to remain in the tournament.
“The win is a motivation for our crucial match against Malawi. The pressure at playing at home is high and the boys are not really used to playing with a crowd of people and I’m pleased that mentally they were in the game even after conceding two goals. We went back to the locker room at half time and encouraged them to score more goals – we want to play in the finals as the host nation and this is why the next match against Malawi is a must win for us” said Jerimi Zimmer the head coach of the Young Warriors.
The women’s team will play Botswana at 12:00 at the UNAM Stadium while the men’s team is set to face Malawi at the Dr Hage Geingob stadium at 15:00. Entrance is free.