Category: Sports

WINDHOEK: Namibia’s Brave Five were on Sunday outperformed 10-3 by Egypt in a thrilling game at the 2024 Morocco TotalEnergies Confederation of African Football (CAF) Futsal African Cup of Nations.

Namibia squared up against three-time competition champions Egypt in their second Group B match at the championship and could not match the quality of their opponents.

As in their opening match of the competition, Namibia’s goalkeeper Cee-Jay Van Wyk was once again the star of the show, preventing the Egyptians from finding the back of the net in the opening minutes of the match.

Despite Van Wyk’s best efforts, the three-time champions broke the deadlock after five minutes through Alaa Eissa and they almost found the second goal, but Khaled Abbas smashed a shot straight into the stomach of Van Wyk as the Egyptians were pushing for their second goal.

The resilient Egyptian continued pushing for more goals, with Mohamed Abdelrazak Koki missing a great opportunity to extend their lead.

Despite being under pressur
e, Brave Five’s Nanguel Kamatuka almost found the back of the net, but his efforts were cleared off the line by an Egyptian defender.

The Brave Five levelled matters eight minutes before halftime, courtesy of Reginald Clive Willemse’s stunning finish. Willemse pounced on a loose ball just outside the area to rifle his effort into the roof of the Pharaohs’ net.

Namibia’s celebrations lasted only a minute as the Egyptians found the back of the net once again to take the lead through a goal by Khaled Abdelhalim, who curled a delightful shot past Van Wyk. Abdelhalim celebrations were also short-lived as Rowen Jager equalised for the spirited Namibians.

Brave Five’s captain Ken Salote almost took the lead for his team for the first time in the game but missed the target.

Namibia was then punished on the stroke of halftime for wasting their chances when Mohamed Abdelrazek Koki slotted in Egypt’s third to go into the break with a 3-2 advantage.

The second half saw a more transformed Egypt scoring from all angle
s as they opened the scoring in the first minute of the second half.

Essam Ramadan, Koki, Abdelrahman Moawad, Khaled Abdelhalim, and Mohamed all managed to find the back of the net, leading to a runaway victory for the Egyptians.

Meanwhile, Namibia’s third came through their replacement keeper Ryiena Riya who pulled a goal back in a losing effort.

With the win, Egypt sits at the top of Group B with six points, while Mauritania is in second with three points. Libya Namibia anchor the group, both without a point.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

GOBABIS: The Khomas regional netball team on Monday retained the Nedbank Namibian Newspaper Cup, after outclassing Oshana 47-25 at the Legare Stadium in Gobabis.

The win against Oshana has now made Khomas the champions of the netball division, for three consecutive years.

In their final bid for the championship, Khomas through their energetic goal scorer Reze Garbers crushed Oshana with 47 to 25, to once again demonstrate their dominance in the competition against an Oshana team that made it to their first final since the netball category featured in the competition five years ago.

On Monday, morning Khomas led on from the first quarter with 14 points compared to their opponents with 5 and continued leading in the second quarter at 23 – 9. The third quarter saw Khomas once more extending the lead to 32 points while their opponents stood at 15 points.

After being crowned winners Khomas netball team captain Kevian Alcock told Nampa that she was happy with their win in the final and wished Oshana region good
luck for future competitions.

‘It was not easy playing in the final, as some of us were tired from previous games. But the aim from the word go was to win the final, and yes we anticipated playing against Oshana as it was one of the best teams from the other group’, she said.

Oshana captain Hendrina Shikwaya from her side said it was a good opportunity to play in the finals for the first time against the defending champion Khomas region.

‘Although we lost this game it was a great success for our team as we played the final for the first time. We gained exposure and experience during this tournament, particularly against Khomas region which was not an easy team to play against. I wish the girls good luck,’ Shikwaya said.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Kavango East and Omusati region secured their spots in the Nedbank Namibian Newspaper Cup 2024 football division final after successfully overcoming their opponents in the semi-finals on Sunday afternoon.

The 22nd edition of the Under-20 netball and football competition is being held in the cattle town of Gobabis from 29 March to 01 April at the Legare Stadium.

On Sunday afternoon, Omusati became the first region to secure its berth in the final after outclassing 10-men Oshikoto in the opening semi-final witnessed by thousands of spectators.

In a game of two halves, Omusati dominated the first half of the match, while Oshikoto came out as the more dominant outfit in the second half.

In the second semi-final of the day, Kavango East clashed with the host region Omaheke. The host region put up an impressive display in front of their supporters who cheered behind their team throughout the match.

As the odds stood against the Kavango East team, the home team opened the scoring and maintained possession throu
ghout the first half of the match, which ended 1-0.

But the second half saw the Kavango East boys pushing their opponents from the start of that half until the end, where they finally managed to find the back of the net with just a minute left in the game.

With the equaliser by the Kavango East region, it was left to the penalty shootout that saw Kavango East eliminate the host region with a 3-2 score line.

Kavango East will now meet Omusati in the football final, which is slated for Monday afternoon at the Legare Stadium.

Kavango West won the football division of the competition in 2023 while Khomas won the netball section in the 21st edition held in Otjiwarongo, Otjozondjupa Region.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Host region Omaheke was joined by Omusati as the first two regions to secure semi-final spots on the first day of the Nedbank Namibian Newspaper Cup in the football division.

The 22nd edition of the Under-20 netball and football competition is being held in the cattle town of Gobabis from 29 March to 01 April 2024 at the Legare Stadium.

Omusati became the first region to book a semi-final spot after defeating Otjozondjupa and Ohangwena region in their Group C matches on Friday.

Meanwhile, hosts Omahake, who had thousands of supporters cheering them on, put up two impressive performances against the ||Kharas region, defeating them 3-0 and before moving on to record a 1-0 win over Erongo, victories that sent the thousands in attendance into wild celebrations.

With two semi-final spots already secured, it’s now up to Groups A and B to decide who takes up the final two spots. Currently, Oshikoto leads Group A with four points after two matches, while Oshana, who defeated defending champions Kavango West on Fr
iday evening, is tops Group B, also with four points.

Action for the final semi-final spots continues on Saturday, as six regions stand a good chance of occupying one of the two available slots.

Kavango West won the football division of the competition in 2023, while Khomas won the netball section in the 21st edition that was held in Otjiwarongo in the Otjozondjupa region.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

Nedbank Namibian Newspaper Cup 2023 champions in the football division, Kavango West, were eliminated from the competition after an 1-1 draw against Kunene on Saturday.

The 22nd edition of the Under-20 competition, which is now comprised of netball and football, is being held at Legare Stadium in Gobabis from 29 March to 01 April 2024.

Kavango West opened their matches of the competition on Friday with a 2-1 win against their neighbours Kavango East but went on to lose 1-0 against Oshana in their second match on Friday evening.

In their third match of the competition on Saturday morning Kavango West crossed horns with the Kunene region. The former champions’ only hope of going through to the next round was through a win and with the hope that Kavango East and Oshana played to a draw.

In a turn of fortunes, the defending champions saw their chances of reaching the semi-finals slip away as their neighbours Kavango East outclassed Oshana with a 1-0 scoreline to finish at the top of the group with six points.

Kavango West and Oshana both finished with four points, and only the group winners advanced to the next round.

With the group stages completed, Kavango East and Oshikoto, have advanced to the next round of the competition. However, Omusati and Omaheke, who also reached the next round on Friday night, are currently under investigation for using ineligible players. They may face suspension from the competition.

Kavango West won the football division of the competition in 2023, while Khomas won the netball section in the 21st edition that was held in Otjiwarongo, Otjozondjupa Region.

Source: The Namibia Press Agency

TSUMEB: The chairperson of the Namibia School Sports Union (NSSU) in the Oshikoto Region, Bonifatius Iiyambo, has expressed concern about the lack of sports facilities in the region. Iiyambo in an interview with Nampa on Tuesday said many of the 228 schools in the region lack facilities like netball and football fields. At the few schools equipped with sports fields, the infrastructure does not meet the required standards, he added.

The chairperson said with the exception of the Tsumeb Sports Stadium, there is a scarcity of adequate sports facilities in the region. Only secondary schools like Nehale Senior Secondary School and Uukule Secondary School have sports facilities, but these are inadequate.

‘When our learners run on those tracks, it is not accurate because they are not proper fields with the right measurements,’ said Iiyambo.

He also said many schools only focus on running as there is no equipment for other sports codes such as shotput, high jump and javelin.

Despite this, he noted a strong inter
est in sports among learners.

‘Our learners love sports and you see it for yourself when there are trials or training,’ said Iiyambo.

‘Let us invest in sport because it unites people and prevents children from getting involved in activities such as drug and alcohol abuse,’ he said.

He made the remarks in Tsumeb during the preparation of the Under-20 Oshikoto regional team for the Nedbank Namibian Newspaper Cup taking place in Gobabis this weekend.

Mbumba Haitengela, the Executive Director of the Ministry of Sport, Youth and National Service, acknowledged the need for improved sports facilities in Namibia when approached for comment. Haitengela however noted plans to construct sports stadiums in all regional capitals.

‘We are aware of the lack of sports facilities in Namibia and we have decided to construct sports stadiums, including in the Oshikoto and Kunene regions, in the 2024/25 financial year,’ said Haitengela.

He said vocational training centres will be utilised for sports field construction in th
e respective regions by way of a memorandum of understanding with the National Training Authority.

Source:The Namibia Press Agency