Namibia’s national U/20 football team, the Young Gladiators, suffered a 2-1 defeat to Congo Brazzaville in a thrilling first leg of the Fifa U/20 World Cup qualifiers encounter at the Brazzaville Stade-Alphonse Massamba Debat.
Namibia took an early lead through Albertine Fillipus in the 19th minute, with Congo responding eight minutes later through Rutha Takassi.
The Congolese then scored the second goal of the match, through Pauline Mbayo, making it 2-1 late in the second half.
The hosts managed to defend their lead and take a 2-1 advantage going into the second leg, which is scheduled for Friday, 13 October 2023 at the same venue.
Following the closely contested game, Coach Errol Damaseb praised both teams’ spirit of competition and expressed hope for the second leg.
“It was a tough match, our players fought hard, and we came close to securing a better result, but luck wasn’t on our side. We will return to the drawing board and use this experience to regroup and prepare for the second leg,” Damaseb said.
Damaseb further added that the defeat could have been prevented by saying, “We got too excited after the first goal, lost focus, and made silly mistakes that eventually cost us. This does not change anything; we are sticking to our plan of advancing to the next stage of the Fifa U/20 World Cup Qualifiers.”
Prior to the game, Damaseb emphasised that the players were already highly motivated.
He stated, “These young talents believe in their abilities, and I see raw talent within the squad that I believe can overcome Congo Brazzaville.”
Namibia is playing their home game in Congo Brazzaville due to the unavailability of a CAF-sanctioned football stadium in the country.