African Stars beat Tigers to claim Standard Bank Super Cup

Defending Namibia Premier League (NPL) champions, African Stars were crowned winners of the second edition of the prestigious Standard Bank Super Cup on Saturday afternoon. Stars defeated Tigers, who are the Bidvest Namibia Cup winners, 1-0 at the Sam Nujoma Stadium. The only goal of the match was scored by Stars’ new signing, Obrey Amseb, who netted in the second half to give Starlile the victory. While chances were few and far between during the first half, the match livened up in the second stanza as both teams pressed for a winning goal. Both teams threatened with Marius Kotze combining well with Meraai Swartbooi in Stars’ midfield while Tigers’ Absalom Iimbondi, Simon Shikokola and Letu Shatimuene were impressive. But the game changer came when veteran Stars’ goalkeeper Athiel Mbaha send a long ball forward, which turn was collected by Amseb. The young striker used his small frame to brilliant effect as he twisted and turned before unleashing a shot from just outside Tigers’ penalty box. That goal earned Amseb the Man of the Match award during the award ceremony. The victory was a great start for new African Stars’ mentor, Bobby Samaria who re-joined the team after a three year stint with Tigers. “We showed up in the second half, after I motivated my players on how to beat ‘Ingwe’,” Samaria said after the match. The coach added that the victory is now history as the team will focus on the next challenges for the season. “Now the serious business has started as we compete for other elite competition,” Samaria said. Tigers coach, Brian Isaacs said that although they lost the match to Stars he is happy with the performance that the boys had. “We had a lot of chances, but we threw them away, while Stars used the chance they got to give them victory,” said Isaacs, who won this competition with Black Africa last season. Starlile went home with N$500 000 while the Shandumbala-based team received N$250 000. WINDHOEK-LUKAS NAMBALA