Zebaldt Ngaruka
Hesron Kapanga
EPUKIRO – Omaheke region’s only Debmarine Premier League outfit, Young Africans (YA) football club, is looking forward to their blockbuster clash against newly promoted northern side Eeshoke Chula Chula tomorrow at the Legare Stadium in Gobabis.
Chula Chula defeated YA by a 2-1 scoreline in the first round of the 2023/24 Debmarine Namibia Premier Football League (NPFL) campaign.
Speaking to New Era Sport, Marley Ngarizemo, who is the manager of YA, said they will welcome Chula Chula with open arms in Gobabis.
“We are ready and very motivated by our current form after defeating Khomas Nampol, and we hope to do well tomorrow afternoon. Nothing is new to football for what they have achieved so far; remember, we joined the then NPL in the 2016/17 season, finished that season at number five on the log, and won the NFA Cup. For me, what is happening to them and Khomas Nampol in terms of their form is normal in football if you have a vision,” Ngarizemo said.
On his part, Chula Chula head coach John Sikerete said his team is ready and knows that it will be a difficult encounter against Omaheke giant. “We are well prepared and will be travelling to Gobabis, hoping for positive results. It won’t be easy,” Sikerete said. We have supporters everywhere in the country, and Gobabis is no different, Omaheke region will feel our presence,” he said.
Meanwhile, African Stars coach Ronny Kanalelo aims to collect as many points as possible in their remaining league fixtures if they are to stand a chance of retaining the Debmarine Namibia Premiership title.
Stars are currently in second place in the Premier League standings with 44 points, having played 21 games so far. They are just one point behind the league leaders, FC Ongos, who are on 45 points but have a game in hand.
In an interview with Nampa on Wednesday, Kanalelo said they aim to win their last league game against FC Ongos after collecting maximum points from their remaining nine fixtures.
“Since I joined the team, we have been working on certain areas, and the responses from the players have been positive. In the game against Tigers on Sunday, we took a defensive approach but managed to break through at times, despite struggling with the final attack,” he said.
Kanalelo said even though Stars have been winning games and playing well, there was a struggle to find the right balance, particularly in the midfield. With our sights now set on winning the remaining games, we are working on the phases where the team has struggled,” said Kanalelo.
He added that he is not concerned about the chasing teams in the NPFL, but rather that the goal is to fight for the title. “I don’t want to worry about the teams that are 10 points behind us, and my focus is not on the bottom teams. All we must do is not allow the two top teams to create a gap between themselves and us. Our goal is to win all the games and the last league game against FC Ongos,” he said. -zngaruka@gmail.com/ Nampa