The first-ever U/19 Windhoek Invitational Tournament that took place over the weekend concluded with Ramblers Football Club walking away victorious.
They beat arch-rivals Otjiwarongo Secondary School (OSS) by 4-1 on penalties after a one-all draw in the final played on Monday.
Fortis Football Academy won the bronze medal after they defeated Athletic Club Football Academy 2-0 in the third-place play-off match.
Ramblers, who are the defending champions of the MTC Hopsol U/19 League, saw themselves drawn in the same group with OSS, the current log leaders of the Hopsol league.
Earlier in the group stages, Ramblers also defeated OSS by 2-1, with Salomon Negumbo and Uri Mootu scoring for the Pionierspark outfit.
The Ramblers team consisting of four U/20 national team players and Fellipo Michelleti, who won the U/19 Classic Clashes for his school St George’s, cruised through the group stages with the brilliance of captain Paulus Amutenya, who dictated their midfield with ease.
“We started off very slow, and were not moving the ball as we normally did in the previous games. But we realised that, and in the second half improved our performance by playing faster and getting the ball more forward. That’s when things came to light,” said Amutenya.
Ramblers’ attacking midfielder Edmar Kamatuka, who is a U/20 national player, echoed his captain’s sentiment, saying their performance was not good because they were quite tired as they did not have enough rest for the final.
“In the second half, we switched on very well and equalised. I believe in the second half we could have scored more than one goal, but our strikers could not convert all the chances we got. During the penalty shootout, we made sure and didn’t miss one, so we won in the final,” Kamatuka beamed.
Negumbo walked away with the player of the tournament award.
The tournament was organised by Ramblers, and comprised 10 clubs. It started on Friday and ended Monday.