Mauritius hold Namibia at Z6

LUSAKA – The Namibian under-17 boys’ football team drew two-all against Mauritius on Monday.

The Mauritians registered the first goal of the game in the 25th minute, which came from a header by Kervin Gael Deise.The islanders extended their lead four minutes later via an own goal by Namibia’s Risto Makuti when he unsuccessfully attempted to clear off the goal line.During the second half, Mauritius played a more defensive game, but it did not work well as the Namibians came back more organised, shooting at goal at any given chance.Their perseverance paid off when Marco Somseb headed in Namibia’s first goal in the 65th minute of the game.Somseb then equalised in the 79th minute with a powerful long-range shot.Namibian coach Ricardo Mannetti gave credit to his players for a great comeback.’In the beginning, our defenders were too relaxed, and that is why the two goals were conceded in the first half against us. But that changed in the second half, and I am happy about the results,’ said Mannetti after the match.Mauritian coach Victor Thomas told Nampa afterwards that it was a very hard game, given that two of his best players did not play as they received red tickets in other games.Although he was happy with the result, Thomas complained about insufficient recovery time given between matches.Thomas was nonetheless looking forward to a better game against Angola on Wednesday.In earlier matches played, Namibia beat Swaziland 1-0, and drew nil-nil against Angola.Namibia was set to play Lesotho yesterday afternoon. The Namibian under-20 girls’ football team was also expected to play Zambia yesterday. – Nampa

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