Namibia coach thrilled with maiden COSAFA Women Championship title

The Brave Gladiators beat Banyana Banyana 2-1 after extra time in the COSAFA final on Sunday in Polokwane. 

Nthabiseng Majiya had opened the scoring for the hosts with Muhinatjo Havani getting an equaliser for Namibia early in the second half and super sub, Memory Ngonda sealing the win for the Brave Gladiators. 

Kavuka says he is honoured that they have made history for the country. 

“20 years is a long time, it has never happened in our history. Here we are sitting as champions of COSAFA 2026 so it’s an indescribable feeling, the girls are happy. I can feel that people back home are happy,” Kavuka said.  

Namibia secured their first final in 20 years after beating Zambia in the semifinals, and Kavuka says the journey from the group stages to lifting the trophy was not an easy one. 

“Let me take you back to how things unfolded, you know. We were obviously in a group of three, we won the first match, we lost the second match and then I told the girls that now we have to take out our calculators,” he explained. 

“You could see that the tournament was meant to be for us, Mozambique did us a favour then we came up against a very, very strong opponent, Zambia but I think on the day we had to play to our strength and tactically I think we were strong then we scored at the right time.  

“We scored at I think the 88th minute and from that perspective there was no turning back.” 

READ: Ellis proud of Banyana fight despite COSAFA final heartbreak

The coach adds that the team struggled against Banyana in the first half which forced him to make a couple of changes after the break. 

“We struggled in the first half, we showed a lot of respect for Banyana Banyana and then we regrouped during half time. 

"We took off one defensive midfielder and then we changed our style of play by adding two more offensive midfielders and then from the onset we could see that there were many opportunities for us in this game. 

“We scored the equalising goal very early in the first half and then we tried to control the game. Ultimately we scored the second goal and then we then had to defend,” he concluded.