Athletic Club Football Academy (ACFA) kicked off the Under-15 (U-15) season on a high note with an impressive 3-0 victory over Sport Klub Windhoek (SKW) at the Jan Möhr Sports Field.
From the outset, ACFA, also known as the red army, demonstrated control and dominance, applying pressure upfront and keeping SKW on the backfoot throughout the match.
Coach Eliaser Amuthitu of SKW expressed disappointment in his team’s performance, struggling to contend with ACFA’s style of play. “It was totally a bad game, a bad display from the boys. This is not what we trained for in the week overall; it was just a bad game,” he said.
Amuthitu felt that things started going wrong in the second half as his boys started respecting the opponents too much and letting them play their game. “Certainly, no pressing, when you are pressing, you stop the run. You stop. That is not football. I mean, if you are pressing, you need to make sure that you win the ball.”
“I mean, somebody running down the line is a winger and then as a defender. I mean you stop running, it was a totally bad display of football today. Overall, my boys lacked character, but whether we lost this game, there’s still more football coming up. So, I’m not writing off my team,” he observed.
The victory marks a promising start to ACFA’s U-15 campaign, setting a positive tone for the season ahead. Nicky Gawaseb was all but smiles, winning the first match of the season with a good scoreline and collecting the first three points. “The game was okay; three points on the first day. But I wanted more, but I will take it. As you can see, the heat and the sun were playing a role today, but we will build on it,” Gawaseb added.
Gawaseb said he knew SKW would play from the back, “so we let them have the ball and pressed them more, and they eventually made mistakes. We capitalized on the mistakes they were making at the back, as they were giving us a bit of space in the pockets.
“In terms of preparations for the season, we started off early. As you can see, we have two new guys in the team who are struggling with our game play. Hopefully in the long run, they will come right. We changed the formation in the second half, where we played three at the back and five in the middle, and that is how we started dominating and got the third goal,” said Gawaseb further.
Miccos Solinga, the goalkeeper and captain of ACFA, said they started off a bit slow in the beginning, but as the game progressed, they picked up the tempo and then played them out on the field. “I was happy with how the team played, especially when it came to rotating the ball and the runs we have been practicing coming to the game,” he said. “I think I played well; my handling was on point and my decision-making and my arrangements of my defence were also well. We must do more, so we play better football,” ended Solinga.
Elsewhere
In an exciting match elsewhere, Henrico Botes’ side secured a hard-fought victory with a 2-1 win
against Riverheights U-19 squad.
CBS, led by Botes, displayed signs of rustiness in the first half, struggling with intensity and match fitness following the pre-season. However, despite the initial challenges, he expressed pride in his team for digging deep and showcasing resilience to secure the win. The victory marks a positive start for Botes’ side as they navigate through the season, aiming to build on their performance and continue their winning momentum. “They stayed in the game in the end, if you look in the last 15 minutes, their fitness and physical endurance
came out, and I think we deserved the win on the day,” he said.
He added that the match was quite physical. But they wanted to play fair and enjoy the game. “That's what we work on during the week. That’s what I want to see, and I’m sure the fans will do as well. So,
what we’ll be working on is, the technical ability and the technical acumen of my boys because we haven’t had time to work on that.
“I’m happy with the three
points. So, we start off with the three points,” he added.