Marythar Kambinda
KATIMA MULILO – Overflowing excitement filled the streets of Katima Mulilo and the entire Zambezi region yesterday as the winning members of the 2022 Namibian Newspaper Cup football title were welcomed back to their hometown by a jovial crowd.
Zambezi, who went into this year’s competition as underdogs, rose above all odds to beat Kavango East region 2-1 to take home their first ever Namibian Newspaper Cup trophy after an electrifying final at the Oshakati stadium on Sunday.
Their historic triumph was felt across all corners of the country, specifically in the Zambezi region, where hundreds of awaiting residents lined the streets of Katima Mulilo to welcome the winning members of the regional team.
The street parades were graced by officials of the Katima Mulilo town council as well as many other prominent members of the vast region, who all jovially paraded the trophy through the town’s streets.
Speaking at the welcoming parade, town mayor Lister Shamalaza could not contain his excitement as he heaped praise on the winning for showing courage and making the region proud.
“It is with great honour that we welcome you back to the region. It was on Wednesday that we blessed your team with a small contribution to assist in the preparation. You performed just like you promised us and we are very proud of the work that you did. We are all smiling as you have put Zambezi region on the map as you stood strong and won,” he said.
The team’s head coach Lennox Kanyehu was yesterday beaming with pride upon their arrival, saying: “We left here with confidence. We trusted the process and set up the technical guideline and just followed that. We said we would bring the cup home when we left and we did just that.”
Zambezi’s Beckson Sibeso Musipili, who was chosen as goalkeeper of the tournament, could not contain the excitement of receiving such warn welcome back to the region.
“I feel very proud of winning the goalkeeper of the tournament as it was my first time playing for the regional team. It was a long journey and I would like to encourage those playing soccer, especially the young ones that they should push very hard to get to where they want to be,” he said.