Defending champions of the Pst Bet NFA Cup, Civics, on Saturday sent a stern warning to other teams as they thrashed coastal outfit Swakopmund FC 5-0 in an exciting tie at the Unam Stadium in the capital.
John Gassonu, Romario //Uiseb, Rivaldo and Maandero Muuso all registered their names on the scoresheet to secure a spot in the last 16 of the tournaments for the defending champions.
Speaking to New Era Sport after the match, head coach Jeremy Zimmer made his intentions clear as to what they want to achieve in this year’s edition of the NFA Cup.
“We want to go far in this tournament. It would be great for us to fall off in the early stage of the competition, given that we are the defending champions. I know it’s football, and you win some and you lose some, but our intention is to reach the final of this tournament and maybe successfully defend the title. But our eyes are on the big prize,” he said.
Meanwhile, reacting to his side’s loss, Gerald Gunther, the coastal team’s head coach, acknowledged that Civics were a better team than they were and pointed out how experience played a crucial role in Civics’ victory.
“We were unlucky, conceding the first two goals, and then we went on to concede three more goals again while we were trying to push forward. We also played against a premier league, which is exposed to the highest level of the game – and you could tell they had the advantage,” he said.
He added that despite the loss, the team took away some very important lessons from it.
“The weather also played an impact on our performance today, but the most important thing from this match is that we have a great squad with potential players; we just need to improve and tweak where it is needed, but I am certain the boys took so much from this match,” he said.
In other matches on Saturday, Unam thrashed Nkure-Nkuru-based team L.K United 13-0, while Oryza Sativa FC sent Gerros Uri-Khob FC packing as they won 4-2 on penalties after the match ended in a 1-all draw.
Sunrise, on the other hand, suffered a 3-0 loss at the hands of Dolam outfit Orlando Pirates in a match played at Omulunga Stadium.