Namibia opened their Group B Council of Southern African Football Associations (Cosafa) Cup tournament with a 2-1 victory over Senegal at the Wolfson Stadium in Pretoria on Wednesday.
The Brave Warriors took the lead through enterprising midfielder Marcel Papama who ran on to a through-pass by Wesley Katjiteo to round Senegalese goalkeeper and put Namibia 1-0 up in the 14th minute.
However, that lead did not last long as livewire Senegalese winger Albert Diene equalised for the guest nation when he thumped in a rebound corner into the back of the net.
The two teams continued probing each other with Papama and man of the match Elmo Kambindu proving to be a nuisance to the Senegalese defenders as Namibia dominated the exchanges in the middle of the park.
However, they both failed to utilise the chances that came their way, leaving both sides tied at 1-1 at halftime.
The second half saw Senegal winning a set-piece just outside Namibia’s 18-yard area, but the Teranga Lions as Senegal is known, failed to make use of it.
Namibia then went in front when Papama spotted the overlapping run of Approcious Petrus whose pinpoint cross was powerfully headed into the back of the net by Kambindu in the 49th minute to give Namibia a 2-1 lead.
The pace of the game slowed down thereafter with fewer clear chances being created, with Namibia winning the match 2-1
Namibia now sits on the top of Group B with three points followed by Mozambique and Zimbabwe who drew 0-0 earlier.
Malawi is fourth with zero points as they wait to open their 2021 tournament, with Senegal anchoring the log following their defeat to Namibia.
Speaking to SuperSport after the match, Namibia coach Bobby Samaria said he was happy with the team’s collective performance, especially their transitional play.
“We have not achieved anything yet as this is the first game. We are looking forward to our next match. Namibian footballers are gifted and always deliver when called upon, and today was one of those days,” Samaria said.
Namibia will now play Zimbabwe on Saturday, before facing Malawi on Tuesday (13 July) and Mozambique the next day.
The top two teams from the two groups will meet in the semi-finals.
Source: Namibia Press Agency
