Maurice Kambukwe

REHOBOTH – Ongwediva Junior Secondary School (JSS) were on Saturday crowned of the inaugural Copa Coca-Cola Cup champions after beating A. Shipena Secondary School by 1-0 in a grueling final held at the Rehoboth Soccer Stadium.

On their way to the final, Ongwediva JSS defeated Zambezi’s Batubaja Combined School 6-5 on penalties after the game had ended 3-3. Ongwediva JSS then went on to eliminate Etoshapoort Junior Secondary School on penalties, winning the match 5-4 following 1-all stalemate to advance to the semifinals of the U/15 tournament. In the semi-finals, Ongwediva beat Donatus Secondary School 4-3 also on penalties after a 1-1 draw.

Meanwhile, A.Shipena who seemed to be the favorites to win the tournament made their way to the finals after overpowering Wennie Du Plesis by a comfortable 3-0. A Shipena then went on to play against Mariental High School in the quarterfinals were they won 2-1 to book their spot in the semifinals against Leopordsvile, who they defeated to reach final.

In the final, A.Shipena faced Ongwediva JSS who score through a penalty spot in the first half. A.Shipena were also awarded a penalty in the second half but failed to convert, which led Ongwediva JSS winning the median edition of the 2019 Copa Coca-Cola Cup.

After their victory, Ongwediva JSS captain and tourney top goal scorer Efraim Mbango told the media that: “Today football was the winner and it was evident that all the teams came for just one thing, and that was to win, but at the end only one team had to win. It is an amazing feeling to become the inaugural champions. It is mostly owed to our hard work.”

Overall Winners with prizes:
First Place – Ongwediva JSS N$ 30 000
Second Place – A.shipena SSS N$ 25 000
Third Place- Donatus CS N$ 20 000
Fourth Place- Tutaleni HS N$ 15 000