2018-03-26Staff Report 2 Otniel Hembapu Windhoek This weekend’s round-of-32 of the Debmarine Namibia Cup produced a hotchpotch surprises, which saw Namibia Premier League (NPL) reigning champions Tigers FC being knocked out of the Debmarine Cup by competition minnows Khuse FC 4-2 on penalties on Saturday. In an exciting clash that was played at the Etosha Stadium in Tsumeb, Tigers played to a goalless draw against Khuse and after 90 tiring minutes, the match had to be decided on penalties – which saw Khuse cruise past Tigers with a comfortable 4-2 win on penalty shootouts. The match was initially to be played at the Oscar Norich Stadium but was moved to Etosha Stadium due to frail pitch conditions because of heavy rain showers at the town. Nangolo Erastus, Steven Hambira, France Shivute and Joseph Shipepe were on target for Khuse in the shootouts while Bradley Wermann and Ferdinand Karongee successfully converted for Tigers, whose skipper Absalom Iimbondi and veteran midfielder Letu Shatimwene’s efforts were off target for the league champions. Khuse coach Samuel Shaahama told Nampa they had an idea of how Tigers would approach the match. “The game was very good as Tigers played as we expected them to play. We knew how Tigers would come at us and we were well prepared for them. We did not give their wingers any chance to play or allow them too much time on the ball, otherwise they would have punished us,” Shaahama said. He said he told his players to forget about who their opponents were and only focus on the game. “I asked them to forget about the name ‘Tigers’ and do not be intimidated by them. Well done to my players for sticking to our game plan and proving that anything can happen in a cup match,” he said. Still at Tsumeb, Space Age FC from Zambezi Region lost 3-0 to Khomas NAMPOL while Swakopmund FC won 5-1 against Ohangwena NAMPOL and Kavango East’s Once Again FC also managed to progress to the next round of the competition following the withdrawal of Kavango West qualifiers Rhino FC. Matches between Civics vs Rundu Chiefs and Chief Santos vs Reho Madrid had to be postponed due to bad lighting at the stadium and were expected to be played yesterday morning at the same venue at 08h00. In other Debmarine Cup results at the Sam Nujoma Stadium in the capital on Saturday, NPL outfits African Stars and coastal giants Eleven Arrows both recorded emphatic victories on their way to the next round of the country’s biggest football cup competition. Arrows opened the day’s proceedings with a resounding 11-0 victory over //Kharas region’s Real Fighters. Anthony Kham, Aprocius Petrus, Simon Nekongo, Salomon Omseb, Willem Pinehas, Josef Ngifindwako and Leonard Vlees all netted to help Arrows make it through to the next round. In the second match of the day, Katutura giants took their impressive league form to the Debmarine Cup when they also recorded colossal 12-0 win over Omaheke NAMPOL to book their place in the next round. Godwin Jena, Marius Kotze, Pandu Nekundi, Aubrey Amseb, Tjiuana tja Tjinotjiua, Treasure Kauapirura were all on target for ‘Stalile”. Still at the Sam Nujoma Stadium on Saturday, Citizens and Young Chiefs locked horns in the final match, and it was Citizens that lead 2-0 with goals from Steward Goagoseb before Paulus Kennedy and Lukas Johannes equalised for Chiefs in the dying minutes. In the shootout, Chiefs won 6-5 to advance to the Last 16. –Additional reporting by Nampa 2018-03-26Staff Report 2
