Chile Futsal Club all but wrapped up the 2025 NDTC Futsal Premier League with a 5-2 victory against X Men on Sunday.
With one match remaining, Chile are now a whisker away from winning the title for the first time, and although the defending champions Quality FC still have a mathematical chance of catching them, it's highly unlikely.
Chile have been in superb form throughout the season, remaining unbeaten with 27 wins and two draws, to top the log on 83 points. With one match remaining against second-from-bottom JAC FC next weekend, they are now virtually certain of winning the title.
On Sunday, they faced a tricky encounter against third-placed X Men, but gradually stamped their authority on the game.
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Martin Humphries scored a brace and Celso Roberto and Wesley Otto one goal each as they cruised to a 4-0 lead by half-time.
The X Men made a concerted comeback after the break with Damian Waters scoring within a minute of the restart, but Bornface Siyanga made it 5-1 when he tapped into an empty net after a quick one-two with Celso Roberto.
By now Chile were well in control and even though Kevin Pretorius added a second goal for the X Men, Chile cruised to victory, with their substitute players on the bench starting to sing "Campeones, campeones" in the closing stages.
Chile coach Mefflint de Waal says they were well prepared for the match.
"We prepared well for the match. We know their strategy, but we also know our strong points, so we just pressed them when they had the ball, and luckily we managed to get two turnovers and that's how we scored. We created a gap and from there we managed the game by keeping possession," he adds.
"At the moment we are are six points ahead of Quality who have a game in hand, but if we win our final game next weekend we will win the league," he says.
"All the hard work has paid off and we have to say thanks to God for guiding us through the season and for the players' dedication, as well as Futsal Namibia for allowing us to compete in such a fantastic arena," he says, adding that they were determined to win the league this season.
"At the beginning of the season we came with a clear strategy, that we wanted to compete for honours this season. We came seventh in 2023 and fourth last year, so we were getting closer and the players deserve to win the league," he says.
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Quality, meanwhile, kept their faint title hopes alive with a hard-fought 4-3 victory against Ineos FC. Quality's scorers were Luis Solunga with a brace, and Ken Salote and Eddie Solunga with one goal each.
They are now second on 77 points with two matches in hand, but even if they win both and Chile somehow lose to JAC, Quality will still have to overcome a 12-goal difference to beat Chile to the title.
In other matches on Sunday, Windhoek Futsal Club beat WIAS 3-0, EFG Patriots beat Flying V 3-0, Ballers beat Demia 3-2, the Mavericks beat Boston Madrid 2-0 and Ragazzi beat JAC 5-3.
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