Mighty Gunners and Khomas Nampol will battle it out for the trophy when they meet in the NFA Cup women’s final at Windhoek Independence Stadium on Saturday.
Both teams comfortably won their semi-final matches last weekend, with Gunners beating Windhoek City 4-0, while Khomas Nampol beat Julinho Athletic 2-0. Gunners should start the final as the favourites judging by their form this season.
They beat Khomas Nampol 2-0 in their first round league encounter, and narrowly missed out on winning the league title after being pipped to the post by FC Ongos in the final round of league matches.
They just needed to beat Windhoek City in their final match on 30 May, but were held to a goalless draw to hand the title to FC Ongos, who beat Julinho Athletic 3-0 in their final match.
That saw FC Ongos winning the league with 55 points while Gunners finished one point behind in second place.
Khomas Nampol, meanwhile, had an inconsistent league season, dropping points against weaker teams that saw them lying mid-table by the end of the first round.
Nampol, however, improved markedly as the season progressed, winning eight of their 11 second round matches to eventually finish third on the log on 42 points.
Gunners have a star-studded side that is well balanced between youth and experience.
They are captained by experienced national goalkeeper Melissa Matheus and include other experienced stalwarts like national midfielders Millicent Hikuam and Lorraine Jossob; striker Fiola Vliete; and the evergreen midfielder, Stella Williams.
They also have some exciting youngsters coming through the ranks, including defenders Utuzuvira Kahiriri (21) and Unondjamo Kaetjavi (18); midfielder Miriam Michael (18) and forwards Lydia Simuma (18) and Leena Alweendo (20).
Kahiriri and Alweendo have already broken into the national team, while the hard-running Alweendo won the golden boot award after finishing as the league’s top goal scorer with 22 goals, while she also won the player of the season award.
Nampol also have a lot of quality and experience in their ranks, including several experienced national players like captain and winger Thomalina Adams, wing back Iina Katutua and midfielder Twelikondjela Amukoto.
Other experienced players include defenders Sarafina Nakashole and Lilie Kasheeta, and midfielder Helena Shuumbwa, while striker Metutjo Tjivikua and winger Tjamunene Ndjavera are two of their most promising upcoming young players.
Gunners’ failure to win the league title will probably give them extra motivation and an added incentive to do well, and coach Salome Iyambo says they will be well prepared.
“The league was ours, we were leading throughout, but in our last match Windhoek City came out to defend, so we gave it away on a silver platter. It just wasn’t our day because we hit the crossbar four times, as well as the post.
“But now we have another chance to win some silverware so we have prepared well and we will be ready on Saturday,” she says.
Khomas Nampol captain Thomalina Adams, meanwhile, says they are determined to win the cup.
“We finished third in the league so we are really determined to win this cup. We need to go up from the bronze so we are aiming for the gold medal,” she says.
The women’s final will start at 13h00 and will be preceded at 09h00 by the play-off for third place between Julinho Athletic and Windhoek City.
