The NFA Cup will get a new owner when Unam and KK Palace battle it out for the trophy at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium tomorrow afternoon.
Neither team has won the trophy before, although Unam reached the 2018 final that they lost to African Stars, while it is the first time that KK Palace are in the final.
Unam, though, has come close to winning silverware this season after finishing as runners-up in the Top 8 final, but KK Palace had a slightly better league campaign.
They started off strongly and were even leading the log during the early stages, but eventually had to settle for fifth place, while Unam finished just two points behind in seventh place. Unam held a slight edge over KK Palace in the league, after holding them to a goalless draw in Oshakati in November and then beating them 2-1 in Windhoek five months later.
KK Palace manager, Kennedy Shikongo, however, said they are highly motivated to win the trophy.
“We have motivated the players and we are ready for the final. The team will already arrive in Windhoek on Thursday so they will be well acclimatised and we are ready for anything. It’s our first trophy in the premier league history of KK Palace so we want to make it count ,” he said.
“We never expected to go this far, but we have been motivating the players, saying ‘let’s keep on pushing guys,’ because this is the only way you can also get bonuses before you go home, since the league is over,” he added.
Shikongo said Unam will be tough opponents.
“Unam is a good team, and in fact, we have never beaten them in the premier league. They play similar football to us so we are expecting a tough match. We don’t have a big squad and we also have a few injuries, so we will only have about 18 players available but we will fight for it since we are hungry for that trophy.
“Our fans are very excited and happy and theres quite a few that will travel to Windhoek for the final,” he added.
Unam coach Robert Nauseb said they are looking forward to the encounter.
“The guys are excited about the final and we had a very good training session yesterday – one that really stood out for the boys, so they understand the game plan and the way we want to play this weekend,” he said.
“They were very disappointed when they lost the Top 8 final, but when we heard there is also the NFA Cup our focus immediately shifted to winning it,” he said.
“Two of our players will miss the final due to injury and suspension, but we have a good squad of players and if we lose one player, then there are others who can step in and help the team,” he added.
“KK Palace is not an easy team to play against. We know why they are there, how they got there, it’s through hard work. They have good , quality strikers that can kill off the game any minute so they are dangerous and we will not take them lightly.
Nauseb said they want to win the trophy for their fans.
The fans have been there for us throughout the season. When we were outside the top eight, in 10th position, they really carried us through into the top eight, and even now they carried us through to the NFA Cup final, so we want to win this cup for our supporters,” he said.
