Football and Basketball go down to Botswana

By Hesron Kapanga

GABORONE, 11 DEC – Namibia’s men’s football team lost their second game 0-1 against Botswana at the African Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region Five, Under-20 Youth Games in Gaborone, Botswana.

In their opening match at the competition, they lost 0-3 to eSwatini.

On Sunday afternoon, the Namibian boys started their game like a house on fire but failed to convert from all their created chances in the opening 25 minutes of the match.

Botswana started gaining momentum as the match went on and were rewarded with the only goal of the match in the 45th minute for a 0-1 halftime score.

In the second half the Namibian boys did all they could but lady luck was not on their side as they missed more than five scoring chances. In the 78th minute one of Namibia’s players was given his marching orders for a dangerous tackle.

With only five minutes to go in the match Botswana also got one of their players red-carded after picking up his second yellow card. The match ended 0-1 in favour of the home team.

Meanwhile in the five-a-side basketball game between Namibia and Botswana, the Namibian boys lost ground in the fourth quarter of the match and went down 26-46 to the host nation in their opening match of the competition.

The home team took the lead as early as the first quarter, which ended 13-16. In the second quarter, Namibia tried all they could but the hosts still had an upper hand as that quarter ended 15-20.

The Namibian boys reduced Botswana’s lead in the third quarter with one point for a 23-27 score at the break.

In the last quarter, the Namibian boys had little concentration and made too many mistakes, which allowed Botswana to run away with the match. Namibia only managed to score three points compared to their opponents’ 19 in that quarter for a final score of 26-46.

Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe are also taking part in the AUSC Region Five U20 Youth Games, which ends on 16 December.

The Namibian team is competing in football (men and women), track and field, boxing, netball, swimming, basketball, judo, volleyball (men and women) and tennis. – NAMPA