New Era Newspaper

New Era Epaper
Icon Collap
...
Home / Game on at Legare Stadium

Game on at Legare Stadium

2021-10-15  Maurice Kambukwe

Game on at Legare Stadium

Maurice Kambukwe

Hungry for top-flight football, Gobabis residents are expected to pack the Legare Stadium tomorrow for the MTC Namibia Football Association (NFA) Cup Aweh semi-finals, in which homeboys Young African will feature.

Young African, currently the pride of the cattle country, will most certainly apply utmost pressure against Mighty Gunners to not disappoint the home crowd, and if they win, celebrations are surely going till late into the night. This much-anticipated match will be a repeat of the 2017 NFA Cup final between the two sides, which saw the Gobabis outfit triumph.

In their most recent encounter in May this year, Otjiwarongo-based Gunners had the upper hand, defeating Young African 2-0 in a Namibia Premier Football League match in Swakopmund. The match will start at 16h00, and will be preceded by a tie between Civics and Blue Waters clash at 14h00.

Young African gaffer Marley Ngarizemo informed New Era Sport they have a few injury concerns, and a couple of players have been ruled out due to suspensions.

He, however, said it won’t deter them from putting up a great performance, as they will be counting on the new ones to do the job. “We have been putting in the work for the past weeks and according to the way players have been responding during our training sessions, they are all in good shape,” said Ngarizemo.

“We will go into this encounter as underdogs but we are ready for the challenge, and we will give them a run for their money.” Gunners team manager Leonard Nambandi said they aim to advance to the final slated for Swakopmund next weekend. In terms of preparations, the coach said the players are mentally and physically ready.

“All our players are in great mood and shape, raring to go. It won’t be an easy game, and we fully understand what they are capable of. However, that won’t intimidate us, we are ready to climb the mountain,” he said.

Paulus Shipanga, coach of Blue Waters, said it is a cup competition and anything can happen. “It will be historic if we can go to the final, given the fact that we have not been in a cup final for years,” he noted.

“We will go all out to ensure we are in the final of this exciting competition. It won’t make sense that the final will be at the coast, and we don’t make the final,” Shipanga said. Civics head coach Jeremy Zimmer is also aiming for the final, saying his charges are well prepared, physically and mentally. The winner walks away with N$500 000 and runners-up N$250 000. Third and fourth places receive N$150 000 and N$100 000, respectively.

- mkambukwe@nepc.com.na


2021-10-15  Maurice Kambukwe

Share on social media