“…a learning curve for development”
Confidence Musariri
WINDHOEK
The Hardap Under-12 regional football team returned from France on Wednesday afternoon after dismally competing in the Danone Soccer World Cup last week.
Of the 40 participating countries, the Namibian ambassadors suffered the agony of coming out position 40. Head of Delegation and Acting Namibia Football Association (NFA) Secretary-General, Barry Rukoro, remained confident that the performance was a learning curve for grassroots development programmes.
The Hardap team who won the inaugural ticket to the Under-12 World Cup, also known as the Danone Nations Cup, looked positive on the first day of the competition. They lost 0-1 to The Netherlands before being held to a nil-all stalemate by Saudi Arabia, drew 1-1 with Russia and lost to Spain 0-3 in the Group F.
“The boys had been promising especially on the first day, but we lost out on the second day where we conceded 12 goals in three matches, scoring one,” said team manager Justice Kavari. According to Kavari, the Namibian envoy had been accustomed to playing 15-minute-two-aside matches and failed to cope with the 15-minute-one-sided matches used at the tournament.
On the second day of the tournament where Namibia was one of the eight countries making a debut, the Hardap team lost to Germany 0-3, to Czech Republic 1-3 and to Australia 0-6.
Namibia was the second southern African country at the tournament besides eventual winners South Africa.
South Africa won the 2004 finals and lost the 2005 edition on penalties to Russia.
“We were obviously thrilled to be in France for such a tournament, but we did not like the fact that South Africa did not field an Under-12 team.
“They had a terribly over-aged team which did not concede a goal in ten games until they reached the finals,” said Rukoro.
The tournament is supported by former French and world star Zinedine Zidane who acted as ambassador of the tournament and was present at the finals in Lyons.
It is endorsed by FIFA and the French Football Association (FFA) and, according to Rukor, the exclusivity of the tournament has further strengthened the football association’s dimension of soccer development.
Rukoro said the Danone had engineered Zonal and Regional Under-12 competitions across the country which has put Namibia’s soccer development programme on track.
“We are not going to throw the team away. Remember after the tournament in Windhoek, we used the help of all the coaches present to screen the best players.
“We have about 50 Under-12 players who make up our national team and will be screened into the national Under-15 team, where the current Under-15 will graduate into the Under-17, with the chain going on simultaneously up to the Under-23. We did not get a good result but we got a good platform for the future,” said Rukoro.
The acting S-G also mentioned the fact that most footballers from the Hardap Region were naturally small in stature and this had a negative effect against other players at the Danone.
“Without discriminating, our boys were physically inferior to some of the players in France.
“Next year, most of them will be above 12, but they will use the experience they gain as they become mature footballers.”
The Hardap team played its last match against Bulgaria and lost 0-1 in a game that decided the 39th and 40th places.