Both NHU teams into finals, with Afcon spots booked

Hockey
Brian Munango
  • 3 Months Ago 21 August 2024
With today’s finals to come, the Central-South Africa Qualifier for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in field hockey has been a success for the Namibia Hockey Union (NHU).

Both the Namibian men’s and women’s teams have advanced to the final and have secured their qualification for the next Africa Cup of Nations (August 2025, host country to be announced), where the continental champions will qualify for the FIH Hockey World Cup (15 to 30 August 2026 in Wavre, Belgium and Amstelveen, Netherlands).

Three AFCON spots for women’s teams were up for grabs in Harare, while the two men’s finalists Namibia and Zambia have booked their spots.

The Namibian women’s team settled for a 1-1 draw against Zambia yesterday.

Both teams found the back of the net during the fourth quarter, with Namibia’s Adoré Meyer scoring in the 50th minute. However, Zambia responded quickly, with Carol Nakombe leveling the score.

The draw was enough to secure Namibia’s place at the top of the table with seven points ( two wins and one draw). As a result, they will face Zimbabwe in the final.

Namibia women’s captain, Kiana-Che Cormack, expressed her satisfaction with the outcome.

“We were extremely happy with the result as it secured our spot in the final. It was a very tough game and it could have gone either way, but we put our goals away and that’s the most important thing. We are looking forward to meeting Zimbabwe in the final again!”

“Considering our team consists of a lot of young players, we came to Zimbabwe to qualify and we achieved that goal. So our team spirits are high and we can’t wait to start preparing for AFCON.

“We aimed to win all of our games, so to end up with a draw was not ideal. Zambia is a strong team and the game was physical, however we were our own worst enemies and missed a lot of opportunities. We’ll use it as a learning experience and do our best to correct our errors in the final against Zimbabwe.”

Cormack’s team had earlier won their pool matches against Eswatini (20-0) and Zimbabwe (3-0).



Men dominate Zambia to secure final

On the men’s side, Namibia produced an outstanding performance in their last group stage match, defeating Zambia 5-0.

Liam Hermanus led the charge with two goals, while David Britz, Brynn Cleak and Fagan Hansen also added their names to the score sheet.

The Namibia men’s team’s three consecutive wins put them at the top of the table with nine points after they has blasted past Eswatini (28-0) and put Zimbabwe away 5-2.

Men’s captain and goalkeeper, DJ Strauss, emphasized their focus. “The boys are ready for the final. We have to be prepared and luckily, the match will be later in the afternoon, so there's enough time to rest and recover.”

With three wins out of three, Namibia men lead the standings with nine points, while Zambia secured second place with six points. The two teams are set to clash once again in the final today at 15:45.



Today’s finals:

13:30 Women’s final: Namibia v Zambia.

15:45 Men’s final: Namibia v Zimbabwe.