Five goals for Gladiators
Namibia pulls one back
The Brave Gladiators beat Eswatini 5-1 to win their second encounter in the Cosafa Women's Championship yesterday afternoon, but coach Paulus Shipanga says they could have scored more.
Brave Gladiators of Namibia head gaffer Paulus Shipanga said his side’s performance in the Cosafa Women's Championship wasn’t 100%, but they bagged the goals they wanted.
“We could have gotten more goals. The players played and execution worked. From now on, morale will go up. We conceded a silly mistake which caused a goal.
"It’s back to the drawing board. We could have had a breather if we scored more goals, so I’m not happy with the mischances,” he said.
Zenatha Coleman, who was voted player of the match, attributed their win to the grace of God.
‘‘We created chances in the first match against Zambia last Thursday [Namibia lost 2-0], but didn’t score. So we really needed to score goals. I give credited to my coach and my team. We really wanted to win this match for ourselves and our country,” she said.
Eswatini coach Simephi Zulu Mamba said the players put up a good fight. ‘‘The girls played well, I can’t really blame them for the score-line.’’
How it played out
The Namibians started off the first half slow but picked up momentum and managed to score a goal in the 22nd minute courtesy of Ivonne Kooper.
As the Namibians continued to pile on pressure, they got their second goal from Memory Ngonda in the 24th minute as she slotted one in from a very difficult corner of the post.
A minute before half-time, Eswatini pulled back one goal through Sisanda Ndzinisa as the Namibians made a defensive error.
At half-time, the sides stood at 2-1. A minute into the second half, the Namibians received a penalty. Coleman stood up to take the kick but unfortunately failed to extend the lead for her side.
She, however, continued to be instrumental and provided an assist for Kooper to score a brace in the 67th minute, putting the Namibians in a 3-1 lead.
In the 73th minute, the Gladiators again managed to score another goal through Germany-based
Veweziwa Kotjipati, who was injured in the process and had to be carried off the field.
Eventually in the added minutes, Coleman took Namibia’s second penalty and successfully converted to give her side a 5-1 win.
“We could have gotten more goals. The players played and execution worked. From now on, morale will go up. We conceded a silly mistake which caused a goal.
"It’s back to the drawing board. We could have had a breather if we scored more goals, so I’m not happy with the mischances,” he said.
Zenatha Coleman, who was voted player of the match, attributed their win to the grace of God.
‘‘We created chances in the first match against Zambia last Thursday [Namibia lost 2-0], but didn’t score. So we really needed to score goals. I give credited to my coach and my team. We really wanted to win this match for ourselves and our country,” she said.
Eswatini coach Simephi Zulu Mamba said the players put up a good fight. ‘‘The girls played well, I can’t really blame them for the score-line.’’
How it played out
The Namibians started off the first half slow but picked up momentum and managed to score a goal in the 22nd minute courtesy of Ivonne Kooper.
As the Namibians continued to pile on pressure, they got their second goal from Memory Ngonda in the 24th minute as she slotted one in from a very difficult corner of the post.
A minute before half-time, Eswatini pulled back one goal through Sisanda Ndzinisa as the Namibians made a defensive error.
At half-time, the sides stood at 2-1. A minute into the second half, the Namibians received a penalty. Coleman stood up to take the kick but unfortunately failed to extend the lead for her side.
She, however, continued to be instrumental and provided an assist for Kooper to score a brace in the 67th minute, putting the Namibians in a 3-1 lead.
In the 73th minute, the Gladiators again managed to score another goal through Germany-based
Veweziwa Kotjipati, who was injured in the process and had to be carried off the field.
Eventually in the added minutes, Coleman took Namibia’s second penalty and successfully converted to give her side a 5-1 win.
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