The second leg of the MTC HopSol Youth League took place the past weekend, with thrilling matches at the Jan Möhr and SKW football fields. 

The Athletic Club Football Academy (ACFA) U/17 team faced off against Kaizen Football Academy (KFA) at the SKW football field.

Both teams were rusty, following a month-long school holiday break.

However, ACFA managed to secure a solid 2-0 victory, collecting maximum points. 

The Red Army’s first goal came from A. J. Visagie in the first half, followed by a second-half goal from Carlos Dhimbonje, sealing the win for ACFA.

Winning coach Ricky Averia felt his boys were a little rusty because of the long lay-off, as practice has been irregular for them, going into the second leg of the season. 

“I think the boys came out today, and showed that it’s like riding a bicycle. Once you get off and come back on, you will be able to ride,” he said.

“We are going to be taking it game by game because we knew KFA to be a tough opponent. They often bring out the best in us when we face them. Our objective for today was to get the three points, but I would like them to play our type of football.”

KFA’s coach Llewelyn Bock said everything went wrong for them, as they could not do a proper warm-up before the game. 

He also pointed out the fact that the gates should have been opened earlier so that the players could stretch a little more. 

“We did not start well. I had players arriving late today, which was reflected during the game. My goalkeeper conceded two goals, which he could have stopped,” he said.

Bock felt ACFA played a lot in their possession and the middle third, and that they did not bother them in their final third. 

“We did not bother them a lot because we did not ask them questions per se. In the last five minutes of the game, we started asking them questions but not the type of questions that could bother them,” he noted.

“Our discipline was lacking because of my boys’ arrival. Our tactical discipline was off. We had to use players who did not train because the others arrived late, especially our front three. So, I had to shout, and give out a lot of instructions because they did not know what to do,” he added.

Bock feels that the long breaks need to stop for the boys to keep fit and play to the best of their abilities. 

“It’s disturbing for this age group. You can’t close the league over the school holidays, and expect to keep them fit over the school holidays. It does not work so well for these boys,” he said.

Elsewhere

Riverheigts Football Academy started well, beating Kasaona Football Academy 2-1 in their U/17 campaign.

Ronald Chari felt his boys were not in the best of shape, as their second-half display was not up to par. 

“When you are playing Kasaona, it’s never easy because it’s a Katutura derby. When they scored first, we pushed the boys upfront to help manage the game,” he said

The coach said the game was also more physical, and his boys were not so ready. 

“In the second half, we started to knock the ball around, but ended up conceding a penalty. But we managed to score in the last minutes of the game, handing us the victory,” he added. 

-slunyangwe@nepc.com.na