THERE was drama galore in the MTC NFA Cup Aweh over the weekend as Civics knocked out Tura Magic in controversial fashion.
Tura Magic started on the offensive and after several chances went astray, took the lead just before the break when Abram Tjahikika got a great through-ball and beat Civics’ keeper, Viril Namaseb from close range.
Magic spurned a great chance to go further ahead early in the second half when Charles Hambira’s shot bounced off the crossbar, while Namaseb also saved well to deny Kaejarukapo Katjimune and Salomon Omseb.
In the final stages, Alex Kaongelwa also headed against the post for Magic and Civics made them pay for their wasted chances when they equalised in controversial fashion deep into injury time.
A shot into the box hit Magic captain Larry Horaeb, who had his arms behind his back, but the referee awarded a penalty to Civics and Aubrey Amseb stepped up to equalise and send the game into a penalty shootout.
The drama continued unabated in the shootout with Namaseb saving from Katoorua Mbuende, while Magic keeper Ratanda Mbazuvara saved from Hosea Nankame.
Civics’ Ngunzu Salazar blasted his shot over the bar, but Namaseb immediately saved Alex Kaongelwa’s spot kick to keep the score tied at 3-3.
Former African Stars defender, Pat Nevin Uanivi, now playing for Civics, had his spot kick saved, but Magic’s Natangwe Petrus missed his attempt to once again put the teams level.
The deadlock was finally broken when Magic’s Tjiuana-Tja Tjinotjiua hit the crossbar to hand Civics a marathon 8-7 penalty shootout victory and a place in the quarterfinals of the competition.
Afterwards, Magic coach Fortune Eichab could not hide his disappointment with the officiating.
“We played okay, but it was a bad way to lose, with our player holding his arms close to his body, but the referee gave them a penalty. From the beginning of the game this referee was one-sided.
“Whatever we did, the referee was just blowing against us. Civics were tackling hard, but none of their players got yellow cards, while we got seven yellow cards, just for tackling. This is a contact sport and we need to tackle, but the referee was just too bad. But it’s ok, that’s the referee’s duties to do, and we will just move on,” he said.
“We played good football and we had chances to finish off the game, but if you don’t take chances in football, this is what will happen,” he added.
Citizens, meanwhile, had a more clearcut passage to the quarterfinals after beating Hopsol DTS 2-0.
Citizens’ veteran midfielder Letu Shatimuene opened the scoring with a great free-kick on 27 minutes, while C17 made it 2-0 with a goal from close range nine minutes later.
DTS Hopsol upped the tempo in the final quarter of the match but they could not break through Citizens’ defence, who stood firm, much to the delight of Citizens’ coach, Christi Guruseb:
“For the first 50 to 60 minutes we performed well, but after that we must thank our ancestors that the defence stood firm, because for the last 20 minutes it was all about DTS. But it’s a cup game, so our progression is the main aim, and I’m happy with the victory,” he said.
Hopsol DTS’s player-coach Oliver Risser said their performance was not good enough.
“Losing a game is not nice. We came with the right intentions, we wanted to win the game, but we were quite thin in our squad today, we had some injuries with a hand broken and a meniscus torn, but that’s football and you have to adjust, and on the day we did not turn up to be honest,” he said.
“Everything was too slow, our passing game was not there, the movement on and off the ball was not there, so all in all I think, if you play like that you do not deserve to win the match, so fair play to Citizens and good luck to them,” he added.
The draw for the quarterfinals was made directly afterwards, with the following teams to play each other this coming Saturday:
At the Oscar Norich Stadium in Tsumeb, Civics will play Khuse FC, while Tigers will play Mighty Gunners, and at the SKW Stadium in Windhoek, Young Brazilians will play Blue Waters, while Citizens will play Young African.
