Chula Chula keep Geingob Cup 

The Dr Hage Geingob Cup came to a fitting end on Saturday when Eeshoke Chula Chula retained the trophy after beating African Stars 2-0 at Windhoek’s Independence Stadium.

It was a sombre but celebratory occasion, with Namibian president Nangolo Mbumba and former first lady Monica Geingos among the dignitaries to observe a minute’s silence for former president Geingob before the start of the match.The former patron of the Namibia Football Association’s love of sport was well known. The competition bearing his name had become a highlight on the sporting calendar, bringing teams from South Africa and Zimbabwe to Namibia during it’s ten year existence.

On Saturday, though, it was Namibian football’s crowd pullers Chula Chula and African Stars who battled it out for honours, and playing in front of a large, joyous crowd, Chula Chula sent their adoring fans into raptures with a 2-0 victory.

Despite enjoying little territorial possession, Chula Chula were deadly on the counter-attack and goals by Marselinu George and Eliakim Jackson saw them retaining the title. They received the winner’s cheque of N$300 000, while Stars had to settle for N$150 000.

After the match, Chula Chula coach John Sikerete said their tactics paid off.

“The scoreline reflects the truth. I think on the counter, we were best because that’s what we trained for. We just wanted to sit back a bit, because we are not match fit. It’s our first competitive match, while Stars have already participated in the Champions League,” he said.

“I told the players at half-time that Stars will want to attack, so when they opened up we should play behind their defence. We were supposed to score two goals that were one-on-one with the goalkeeper – unfortunately we couldn’t capitalise, but the scoreline reflected the truth,” he added.

Stars had most of the possession in the first half, and with Willy Stephanus, Mbakondja Tjahikika, Godwin Eiseb and Edmund Kambanda at the centre of their attacks, they created several chances.

Ibroihim Youssouf hit the crossbar early on with a header from a corner, while Chula Chula keeper Johnm Muronga did well to save from Tjahikika and tip a Stephanus freekick over the bar.

Muronga also denied Thabang Malane with a point blank save from close range and it was Chula Chula who took the lead against the run of play when George put them ahead after a quick counterattack midway through the first half.

The second half had barely started when Chula Chula went further ahead as Jackson burst into Stars’ box to score with an acute shot from the left wing.

Stars went surging forward with a Tjahikika header cleared off the line, and their pressure finally told when they won a penalty for a foul in the box. It, however, wasn’t their night, as Stephanus’ shot veered left and hit the outside of the post.

Eiseb also had a volley well saved by Muronga, but Chula Chula’s defence stood firm. Lawrence Doeseb and Eliakim Jackson came close for Chula Chula in the dying minutes.

Earlier, Ongos Ladies beat Julinho Athletic Football Club (JAFC) 4-2 on penalties after a goalless 90 minutes, to win the women’s trophy and the winner’s cheque of N$200 000, while JAFC received N$100 000.

The main sponsors for the event were MTC who contributed N$1.6 million, Namibia Breweries Limited with N$1.5 million and Bank Windhoek with N$500 000.

Spectators were also treated to performances by entertainers, including DJ Vuyo, Tate Buti, Latoya Stela and Sunny Boy.