Dama Soccer Academy (Dama SA) got knocked out of the U/15 group when they lost their second-leg match against Sport Klub Windhoek (SKW) 2-0.

The second leg proved to be an uphill battle for Dama SA, as they were supposed to overcome a 6-1 scoreline from the first leg. Dama SA coach Luciano Isaacs felt this was a lesson learned for them as they at least made it to the knock-out stages of the competition. “It was not a loss, it was a lesson. For us, it’s always about the road to development. When I came into this role, there were players who would not pitch up for training and expect to play, which is against my principles,” he said.

Isaacs feels that the boys put up a stellar performance, even though they got knocked out in the playoffs. “As you can see, in the games we played against SKW last week,
we lost to them due to our goalkeeper
getting injured. Today, we got closer. We could have done a little bit more. This only shows us that we are getting up the ladder,
so it’s a process we need to trust and believe in.” 

Winning coach Eliaser Amuthitu felt they started off the game shaky because his boys had to come to the field right after school, and some players’ energy levels were low. “I feel after the 15th minute, we started controlling the game better, and it’s nothing to cry about because we got the results. It was important that we held our lead because in the first leg, we scored six, and today we managed to get two goals,” he said.

“For the gameplay, we still have to work around the team shape in terms of our build-up, how we progress from the back, and getting into the midfield from the back, and eventually the attacking third.”

Elsewhere 

St. Joseph’s Roman Catholic High School (Döbra) suffered another thrashing in their second leg when they were beaten 9-0 by Athletic Club Football Academy (ACFA).

Döbra’s first leg went horribly wrong when they lost 6-0 to their opponents, making it almost impossible for them to even be in contention to progress through to the next round. Döbra’s coach Shimba Shike thanked his boys for sticking their heads up, even though they were not likely to go through the knock-out stages. “We are a school, and not a club like the others. We don’t have much experience; I want to say thanks to them. We did not expect what happened in the field with such a scoreline.” 

“I want to congratulate ACFA, and we would like to meet them again next year. We will come back next year harder, and bring in more players,” he said.

-slunyangwe@nepc.com.na