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Abysmal game plan cost Nam the match
Players showed no urgency
CONRAD ANGULA
IN their worse performance for many years, the Brave Warriors saw their African Nations Cup hopes dented by a thorough 3-0 defeat at the hands of a well-oiled Cote d'Ivoire in Abidjan Sunday.
Two silly goals in the opening half and third in the second stanza did the trick for the the host nation who, despite not playing too well themselves, did far better than Namibia. The Ivorians owed their victory to goals by Modibo Diallo (the first and 90th minute) and Ibrahim Diomande (32nd minute).
Wary of Namibia's highly attacking style of play, the Elephants played a slow match (almost at a walking pace) and the Warriors fell in the trap and followed suit.
Starting the match with a lone striker, six midfielders and three defenders, the Brave Warriors looked over-crowded in the middle of the turf and the usually reliable defence appeared out of sorts.
The back three, marshalled by the no-nonsence captain Bimbo 'Rhuu' Tjihero, were guilty of ball-watching and played a very static game, reacting far too slowly when the Ivorians were on the attack.
There was no man-marking at all and the players, although not lacking in speed and power, were caught napping by the Ivorian strikers who displayed excellent skills and composure when on the attack.
Namibian coach Seth 'Orlando' Pirates made some debatable choices and the decision to start an out-of-form Clemence 'Jomo' Khaiseb proved to be the principal reason for Namibia's downfall.
Khaiseb, who is clearly not back to full fitness after the Christmas break, looked totally out of shape up front and he must have been the loneliest man on the field during the short space of time he was on the field.
The midfield, although enjoying a one-man advantage over their Ivorian counterparts, failed to gel and couldn't even string together two or three proper passes.
There was no control in the entire team and not even the presence of Namibia's two Kaizer Chiefs professionals Mohammed 'Slice' Ouseb and Robert 'Baggio' Nauseb could help the team regain its composure.
In using the combination of Johannes 'Congo' Hindjou, Quinton 'Magic' Jacobs, Razundara 'Rassie' Tjikuzu and Simon 'China' Uutoni, Boois seems to have looked at quality rather than workable combinations.
The players forgot their roles once they ran onto the field. The passing was pathetic and the shooting was horribly off-target. It was the appearance of Nations Cup debutante Collin Benjamin which turned out to be Namibia's best move of the day.
The boy ran his lungs out on the left flank after replacing China Uutoni at the start of the second half and his presence on the field brought back a little urgency in the rest of the team.
Goalkeeper Danzyl Bruwer was not well covered and was always exposed to deadly Ivorian strikers who turned out to be very clinical finishers as they slotted in three goals past the agile Civics FC goalie.
Despite the promise that they were going to play a highly-offensive game, the Brave Warriors disappointed their thousands of fans back home for not scoring at least a consolation goal.
The chances were there as Benjamin, Hindjou, Tjikuzu and second half substitute Berlin 'Pancho' Auchumeb all fluffed excellent scoring chances that could have made a difference to the final outcome of the match.
Boois will need to take careful stock of his present squad, especially with the Cosafa Castle Cup tie against Lesotho just around the corner, or we can look forward to another massacre in Maseru.
January 25, 1999
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