THE Brave Gladiators managed a two-all away draw against Angola in their first-leg Olympic qualifier on Saturday, but head coach Jacqueline Shipanga suspects some of their counterparts to be male.
A fuming Shipanga informed The Namibian Sport yesterday that Angola fielded four ‘men’ in the match and called for the relevant authorities to step in. Three of the four players – Paricia Mingas Afonso, Flora Marta and Veronica Augusto – were all issued with their passports on January 12, two days before the game. In November last year, Nigeria submitted a complaint to Caf, accusing Equatorial Guinea of fielding two men in its women’s soccer team at the recent African Women’s Championship in South Africa. Ghana and Cameroon also questioned the players’ gender as Equatorial Guinea finished second at the tournament.Shipanga said it was imperative that media institutions and government make it possible for sport journalists to accompany national teams to foreign countries to better investigate such situations.’The situation is getting out of control and my girls are going to suffer from multiple and irreversible injuries as they have to physically try to match the capabilities of the controversial players,’ said Shipanga. ‘Some of the Brave Warriors cannot even match the well-muscled physical appearance of these girls,’ she added.Despite their physical inferiority, Shipanga said her new-look youthful side rose to the occasion and put on a dogged display. Shipanga singled out performances by 15-year-old Lovisa Mulunga and 17-year-old Tomalina Adams as ‘brave and encouraging’.She said the plethora of talent being unearthed is testimony to the effective NFA youth development structures. ‘I have never been so proud of my girls as now, the bravery they displayed makes them true Namibians.’Adams broke the deadlock on 20 minutes before the consistent little dynamite Juliana Skrywer doubled Namibia’s advantage in the 30th minute. Angola were awarded a penalty before halftime after a foul from defender Stacey Naris. However, Susanna Eises, player of the match and U/20 captain, saved the spotkick to further stake her claim as favourite for the number 1 jersey. In the second half, Namibian captain Queen Manga was carried off the field after receiving a blow from ‘the controversial substitute Patricia’ (Afonso) as Angola capitalised on their numerical advantage, with Afonso getting on the scoresheet. Minutes later Angola scored again through one of their suspected male players. Shipanga said it was a tough ask from the inexperienced team but they managed to hold on for the draw. Due to an administrative hiccup, the girls are stranded in Angola until Friday with preparations for the second leg looming. ‘It’s unfortunate as all the flights has been fully booked,’ said Shipanga. ‘Yes it will be difficult to prepare as we might not be presented with facilities.’We however have eight players back home that will be starting to train with the assistance from the goalkeeper coach Pappie Bonifacius and Timothy Tjongarero will be assisting the girls to gain match fitness.’
