Despite their best efforts, the Baby Warriors and Baby Gladiators were eliminated at the group phase of the men and women’s Cosafa under-17 competitions, taking place concurrently in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The Baby Warriors finished their campaign with one draw, a solitary victory and a defeat, while the Young Gladiators lost all three of their matches.
Following an erratic opening display which ended 8-0 against Zambia on Thursday, the Young Warriors edged Eswatini 2-1 two days later, before playing out a thrilling 4-4 draw against Zimbabwe on Monday.
Namibia missed out on a semi-final birth of the tournament, which doubles as a route to the CAF Under-17 Africa Cup of Nations finals for the teams that will contest the decider.
Overall, Baby Warriors head coach Gerald Güther believes the boys showcased that they have immense potential.
He also says at their tender age, coupled with limited international exposure, their performances will alternate between moments of brilliance and just as many slip ups.
That much was evident in the match against Zimbabwe, which was characterised by attacking brilliance and defensive deficiencies.
“I think you can see that pressure is put on the kids and that it sometimes is a bit too much. Both Zimbabwe and ourselves knew that we had to win to stand a chance to go through as second-best,” Güther says.
“Also, them being 15, 16 years old, there’s still a lot of learning to do when it comes to the defensive discipline. At that age, you do make a lot of mistakes.
“Attacking football is a lot easier than having discipline at the back. I think also maybe at that stage that they play 45 minutes a half, they’re pretty tired in those periods of the game.”
The Baby Gladiators had a harder time of it in the u17 Cosafa Women’s Championship, learning hard lessons along the way.
They began the tournament by losing 5-0 to Madagascar, followed by a similar scoreline against South Africa on Saturday before Malawi beat them 6-1 on Monday.
“Credit to the girls. The showed character, they showed heart,” says Baby Gladiators head coach Hafeni Ndeitunga.
“It was more positive. You look at the goals we conceded, it’s okay given the preparation time. I look at how we progressed the ball and I like it.”
The semi-final line-ups are complete in both the men and women’s competitions. In the men’s section, Zambia battle host nation South Africa, while Angola face best runner-up Zimbabwe today, Madagascar take on Zambia in the first women’s semi-final, followed by Mozambique against Lesotho.
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