Namibia stormed into the 2022 Council of Southern Africa Football Associations (Cosafa) Cup finals following a hard-fought one-nil victory over Mozambique on Friday at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban, South Africa.
Namibia scored first through Bethuel Muzeu, who slammed an unstoppable shot on the turn in the sixth minute for his first ever international goal in only his second cap.
Absalom Iimbondi exchanged passes with captain Dynamo Fredericks and rode a tackle from a Mozambique defender before crossing for Marcel Papama.
The midfielder’s attempted shot with his weaker right foot fell kindly to Muzeu, whose first touch set him up for a cracking volley which beat the Mozambique goalkeeper all systems out.
The two teams created several chances, with Iimbondi coming close midway through the half, but he saw his effort parried for a corner kick by the goalkeeper.
Mozambique dominated possession, forcing the Brave Warriors to sit deep and defend, but failed to use their dominance as Denzil Haoseb and Kennedy Amutenya stood resolute.
Shaquille Momad da Conceicao Nangy wasted two golden chances in the first half and another one right at the end of the match as the Brave Warriors reached their fourth Cosafa Cup final.
Mozambique dominated the proceedings with 53 per cent of possession and created 17 chances, with 10 of those on target compared to Namibia’s 13 shots with only five on target.
Papama was named man of the match and stated that the team was happy to play in the final, with confidence high amongst the team.
“The coach has encouraged us to play our game and we have shown that in the two matches. Individually I have grown and become more versatile,” he said.
Newly appointed substantive Namibia coach, Collin Benjamin said he was happy with the team who have shown pride and hard work.
“It is hard work. It is not easy, this process will be long and the work for the past four weeks, with some of them coming from the youth leagues and coming onto this stage and still showing this type of performance, is good,” he said.
Namibia will now play either Senegal or Zambia in the final.
The team came into the tournament in the quarterfinal stages and beat Madagascar by a 2-0 scoreline on Tuesday.
Source: The Namibian Press Agency
