THE Brave Gladiators turned on the style to beat Swaziland 5-0 in a friendly match on Saturday.
Ndapewa Katuta and Anna Shikushu scored two goals each and Zenatha Coleman a penalty as Swaziland suffered their second defeat after going down on penalties to Namibia U20 on Thursday.
The matches took place at the NFA Technical Centre and formed part of Namibia’s preparations for the African Women’s Championships, which Namibia will host in October next year.
In Saturday’s match, Namibia dominated from the start, with an early freekick by Zenatha Coleman going wide, while Ndapewa Katuta and Juliana Skrywer also came close.
Kasie Amukoto headed just over the bar after a fine cross by Vistorine Shangula, but Namibia’s pressure finally told as they scored two goals in quick succession midway through the first half.
Katuta ran onto a long clearance and beat the defence with her pace to bundle the ball into the net.
From the kickoff, Juliana Skrywer immediately attacked and passed to Amukoto who was brought down in the box. Zenatha Coleman stepped up and coolly slotted the ball in the corner of the net.
Swaziland had few opportunities, with a freekick by Tibo Dlamini easily saved by Anna Kauzuu, while Kauzuu brought off a fine save at Dlamini’s feet just before halftime.
Namibia continued their dominance in the second half and Amukoto soon grabbed her second goal from a quick counterattack.
Namibia wasted several other scoring opportunities but towards the end of the match Anna Shikushu broke through with two goals in quick succession to wrap up a comfortable victory for Namibia.
A crowd of about 200 people turned up at the NFA Technical Centre to watch the match, including the NFA president John Muinjo and assistant coach of the Brave Warriors Ronnie Kanalelo.
The head of the NFA’s Women’s Desk Jacky Gertze said they were impressed with what they saw.
“The NFA president John Muinjo was was very happy with the maturity and fitness of the Brave Gladiators. A nice crowd turned out for the match and showed that Namibia is feeling the hype around the 2014 African Women’s Championships,” she said.
On Thursday, Namibia’s U20 women’s soccer team, the Young Gladiators gave a great performance to beat Swaziland’s senior women’s team 3-2 on penalties after a full time score of 2-all at the NFA Technical Centre.
Namibia’s goalie Agnes Kauzuu was the star performer as she made three saves in the penalty shootout, while Millicent Hikuam and Anna Shikushu scored Namibia’s goals during regular time.
It was a fine performance by the youthful Namibian team who are being groomed for the senior national team.
Four players of the Under 20 team were in fact included in the senior team that played against Swaziland on Saturday, namely Memory Ngonda, Lena Noreses, Albertha Dawes and Anoushka Kordom.
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