Baby Gladiators have a lot to learn

Namibia to face Malawi next
The Baby Gladiators of Namibia received a whipping at the hands of South Africa on Saturday.
  • 1 Year Ago 05 December 2022
On Saturday, Namibia's under-17 junior women’s football team, the Baby Gladiators, lost 12-0 to South Africa in their first match of the 2022 African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region 5 Games at the Bingu National Stadium in Lilongwe, Malawi.

A late entry in the tournament, Namibia conceded six goals in each half and failed to register a single shot on target.

Coach Eveline Noreses said they are not happy with result.

“We expected a better outcome. Unfortunately, South Africa is a better team than us. We wanted to give them a good run for their money, but that didn’t happen. But I’m happy with the opportunity.

‘‘This is a beginning for the under-17s. There is a five-year development plan by the Namibia Football Association for the players, so it’s important for them to be part of this.

‘‘Having a score-line like this discouraging, but forces us to go back to the drawing board," she said.

"Good thing is we still have a game at hand. Lesson learnt is that fitness matters. The players had examinations, which disturbed our preparations. Intense preparation is needed,” Noreses added.

'We went all out'

South African coach Victoria Mbatha said while they prepared well for the tournament, they didn’t think would score so many goals. “We don’t underestimate our opponents, but we went all out to win the match as we want to qualify for the semi-finals," she said.

‘‘I’m happy for the girls as they worked hard without any complaints. This is commitment, we still need to score more goals,” Mbatha added.

The Baby Gladiators will today face Malawi at 15:30. The same team lost 4-1 to South Africa in their debut last Thursday.

“My message to the girls is to forget about what happened. It’s a new stage and opportunity. Anything is possible,” Noreses said.