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Strauss Lunyangwe

Windhoek Gymnasium faced off against Deutscher Turn und Sportverein (DTS) at the CBS Sports Arena in Windhoek on Saturday.

The event marked both teams’ first match in the 2025 MTC Hopsol League season. 

The game ended with a 2-1 victory for DTS. DTS took the lead in the first half with a goal from Jagot Kabeer, making it 1-0. 

They extended their advantage in the second half with another goal, leaving Windhoek Gymnasium struggling to catch up. 

Despite a late surge, Windhoek Gymnasium managed to score their first goal towards the end of the match, but could not find an equaliser.

Windhoek Gymnasium’s U/19 coach Gilbert Mogane reflected on the match.

He said “the game was a good one with end-to-end action. We made a few mistakes that cost us the game, but it’s not something we’re going to dwell on. We’ll go back to the drawing board, fix those issues, and move forward. Our goal is always to get three points, but those mistakes forced us to adjust our tactics. We had to make a few substitutions. Some players were away for regional team trials, which affected our lineup”.

He added: “It’s unfortunate, but we can’t always rely on players who aren’t available. The ones who are here needed to step up. I think they did well overall. 

It’s just individual mistakes that caused 
us problems. It’s still early in the season. We can fix these things. We had a similar situation last year when we lost our first game, but we came back strong. So, expect more fire from us this year. We’re a team that plays the ball on the ground. We’re aiming to score more goals after a bit of a drought last season. The boys are really prepared for this league”.

Player Likius Iilena spoke about the team’s performance, saying “We started off slow, and they scored early. But in the second half, we came back stronger and managed to equalise. 

Unfortunately, some silly mistakes on our part led to a last-minute goal. It’s all about timing your tackles, and knowing when to challenge or just cover space. We gave away unnecessary fouls, and those led to their goal. We’ll go back, fix the mistakes, and come back stronger next time”.

Teammate Ngamburiro Tjatindi stated that “the opponents were tactically and technically strong. In the first half, I think they played better than us. But in the second half, we showed character and determination. We managed to equalise. However, in the last five minutes, we made some silly mistakes and conceded a free- kick, which ultimately led to their goal”.

Despite the loss, Windhoek Gymnasium remain determined to bounce back and improve as the season progresses.

Elsewhere late Friday afternoon

The U/15 boys Group B were back in action with Sport Klub Windhoek (SKW’s), that went head-to-head with the clever boys from Windhoek Gymnasium.

At the start of the season, all teams were looking to start off on good foot and collect those valuable three points.

This would mean a lot when it comes to progressing to the next rounds.

Windhoek Gymnasium U/15’s looked all but rusty with sloppy goalkeeping, giving SKW a big advantage with a massive 5-0 victory at the CBS Arena. 

Goals rained in from Daniel Mwiya, Nathan Goliath and Micah Davids, with two goals from Semon Zegeye.

Windhoek Gymnasium attributed their loss to having a new squad plying their trade in the MTC HopSol Youth League, as they are yet to taste the waters of this tough, competitive league.

Coach Sylvester Murangi from Windhoek Gymnasium said his boys are coming from a developmental league, and are not used to this structured football. 

“For the first time in HopSol this year, their performance at the beginning of the game was poor – they panicked. They picked up some rhythm in the last 10 minutes of the first half. Again, we are playing in stages,” he said.

Murangi said since it was the first game of the season, they faced a very tactical and skilful academy, which has been participating in HopSol for over five years. 

“I can see that SKW has depth because they had five players that were playing in the U/15 league. We must give them credit because we are building the team. But I think we are going to come back better during the season,” he noted.

“You see, these boys know each other, as they call each other by name when they play against their teammates. There was a panic button with the goalkeeper, but we are going to fix it. He just needs some mental strength to be more encouraged,” he added.

Winning coach Luciano Isaacks gave credit to his opponents for giving them a good game. 

They had been training hard in pre-season before the league kicked off. 

“I must say the appetite of the boys is quite high, as well as the attendance. So, today was all about executing the basics we were doing at training. I felt that in the first half we should have had more of the possession because our reaction was a bit slow when we lost the ball,” he said.