African Stars and Mighty Gunners will face off for an MTC Maris Cup semi-final berth after belatedly adding their names to the quarter-final roll call in contrasting fashion on Sunday.
Stars, the defending league and FA Cup champions, made light work of newcomers Blue Boys with a routine 3-0 victory in the last contest of the day.
Goals from captain Ronald Ketjijere, Mbakondja Tjahikika and Rikambura Muundjua ensured passage to the last eight battle, scheduled at Oshakati this weekend.
In contrast, the Gunners had to dig deep to defeat a determined Tigers outfit, advancing after a marathon 10-9 penalty shoot-out victory in the penultimate round of 16 action.
The teams were deadlocked 2-2 after 90 minutes. Pitsi Ameb and Shayne van Wyk put Tigers ahead before Petrus Stephanus and Edwin Amakhoeb pulled Gunners level to send the match into penalties.
The semi-final draw also pits Ongos against Young African, and Unam against Blue Waters, with KK Palace taking on Bucks Buccaneers.
Stars barely broke a sweat against a hapless Blue Boys side, who looked at sea during the lopsided clash.
Nonetheless, Stars head coach Ronnie Kanalelo feels his side could have won the match by a larger margin.
“We had a lot of wrong decision-making and passes but we kept the structure and controlled the game in all aspects,” said Kanalelo.
“We didn’t give the opponents a chance in our defensive third. They couldn’t do much with their possession and we were more direct. But going forward, we could have done better.”
Blue Boys’ veteran tactician Ali Akan said his side are not on Stars level.
“We congratulate African Stars, they were better than us and deserved the win. Based on that you can see the difference in quality; one is the league champion and the other is coming from the first division,” Akan said.
Blue Boys will struggle to compete until they bring in reinforcements, Akan said.
“The level between the two is too big. We’re trying to get a couple of players but unfortunately we haven’t been able to so far,” he said.
Mighty Gunners lived up to their name, putting in an almighty effort to defeat Tigers and maintain their interest in claiming the N$1 million MTC Maris Cup.
Battling back from two goals down and then winning a tense penalty shoot-out shows the type of character required to win the competition, says head coach Gerhard Hengari.
“It was a hard-fought battle but take nothing away from the boys. They really fought hard,” Hengari said.
“We knew when we came here that it would be a hard-fought battle. We knew from the onset because it is always like that with Tigers,” he continued.
“I am happy that we came victorious through penalties. Of course, it is anybody’s game.
“But I am happy that we fought through and my boys put all the penalties away. I’ve got nothing more to ask from these boys.”
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