Despite their 2-0 defeat to Burundi on Friday , coach Wallace Doeseb states the Young Gladiators secured vital experience to help them develop into better players.

The Young Gladiators lost 2-0 and 5-0 on aggregate against Burundi in the 2022 FIFA Women U/20 World Cup qualifier but their mentor Wallace Doeseb says they take the exposure as a great positive for the ladies.

” We value the vital experience they got from the first leg, the improved level of fitness and confidence, and they came to the party in the second leg. We conceded from a deadballs situations which shows that we improved”, says Doeseb.

Specifically on the second leg match at Dobsonville Stadium in Johannesburg, Doeseb says: “We were very unfortunate to concede from a free kick in the first half. We lost our top striker through injury but we kept on pushing. We continue with the offensive play in the second half but conceding a penalty was totally against the run of play.”

The coach is also impresed by the fighting spirit until the final minute from his players.

Burundi progress to the third round of the qualifiers. There are five rounds in the African leg of the qualifiers with only two sides going through to Costa Rica.

Source: Namibia Football Association (NFA)