Kakuva remains undaunted 

Brave Gladiators coach Lucky Kakuva remains hopeful that Namibia can qualify for the 2026 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations despite a two-goal deficit against Zambia.

Zambia won their first leg qualifier 4-2 at Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto on Wednesday, leaving the Gladiators with the near-impossible task of winning by at least three goals in their return leg match in Ndola on Sunday, if they hope to reach the Wafcon finals for the first time since they hosted it in 2014.

At the post-match press conference, Kakuva, however, said nothing is impossible in football.

“Mathematically it’s not impossible and football-wise it’s not impossible, but we know the magnitude of the task at hand, so we have to work out a plan, we have to strategise,” he said.

“We will approach the match with a different mentality and obviously we need to score goals. We saw with our approach in the second half that we are more than capable of doing the job – it will be a difficult task, but it’s possible in football,” he added.

On Wednesday, Zambia took an early 2-0 lead, but Namibia came back strongly after the break to equalise before Racheal Kundananji added two more goals to complete her hat-trick.

Zambia opened the scoring in the 12th minute when an unmarked Kundananji received a cross from Eneless Phiri to put the ball into an empty net.

Zambia kept attacking, and four minutes later it was 2-0 when Racheal Nachula kneed in a cross by Grace Chanda.

Kundananji continued to torment Namibia’s defence, but Namibia managed to hold on till half-time, and struck back with a determined comeback after the break.

Ivone Kooper opened the Gladiators’ account six minutes into the second half when she ran onto a throughball into the box to beat Zambia’s keeper Natasha Nali from close range, and when Leena Alweendo was fouled in the box six minutes later, Zenatha Coleman stepped up to blast the ball into the net and level the score at 2-2.

Zambia, however, regained the lead through a great shot by Kundananji from the edge of the box, and Kundananji completed her hat-trick in injury time when she beat Namibia’s defence and sidestepped goalie Melissa Matheus to put the ball into an empty net.

Despite the defeat the Gladiators gave a committed performance, with Asteria Angula and Thomalina Adams fighting hard in midfield while Zenatha Coleman showed her class in attack, creating several chances.

Ivone Kooper and the young striker Leena Alweendo were also in fine form, keeping the Zambian defence on its toes, while the latter won the penalty from which Coleman temporarily equalised.

Kakuva said they struggled in the first half.

“Initially our tactical decision was to lie a bit deeper and play on transition, but the fitness levels are not yet there and it was quite difficult. The opponent really made the field big for us in the first 45 minutes and we had some challenges in the defence, especially on the left-hand side of the defence. But then, after a replacement, we stabilised and then towards the last 10 minutes of the first half, you could see that we reached a level of stability,” he said.

Kakuva said he decided to change his tactics after the break.

“I realised that Zambia is not as good as I thought, so I decided to play a bit higher, to introduce a high block with the ultimate tactical strategy of high pressing and we scored two goals,” he said.

“We had a clear opportunity to score a third goal, but it did not happen and we could not contain the opponents, but I’m proud of my girls,” he said.

Regarding Sunday’s return leg, Kakuva has not lost hope.

“We are trailing at the moment, but we still have got an away leg, so let’s hope the football Gods are with us to make a miracle of a match,” he said.

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