Gladiators secure first leg victory

Namibia’s Brave Gladiators scored goals in either half to claim a 2-0 first leg lead over Equatorial Guinea following their 2024 Women’s Olympic Games qualifier at the FNB Stadium in neutral Johannesburg yesterday.

It was a superb performance from the home side, who now have something to take into the return leg scheduled to be played at the Estadio de Malabo in Equatorial Guinea next Tuesday. 

Some 76 places separate the pair on the Fifa women’s rankings but you would not have thought so as Namibia put in a classy display and might have won by a greater margin. They took the lead on 34 minutes via the talismanic Zenatha Coleman, a true stalwart of the side who has played such a pivotal role for them down the years. 

So much of their good attacking play goes through her and the 29-year-old created several other chances for her teammates. Ivone Kooper then added a second goal for the home team on 52 minutes, which could be a crucial score in the greater scheme of things as Namibia are likely to have their backs to the wall in Malabo. 

The winner of the tie will advance to the second round where they will meet Morocco in October, a difficult challenge against a team which is currently preparing for the 2023 Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. 

If they advance in that fixture then the winner of the second round clash between Ivory Coast and Tunisia awaits in the third stage. Also on that side of the draw are Ghana and Zambia, the latter another team heading to the World Cup. 

The other side of the draw contains heavyweights South Africa, Nigeria and Cameroon and will be equally competitive. 

The qualifiers will conclude in April 2024, when the two teams from the continent to head to Paris will be revealed. There will, at least, be a pair of nations from Africa at the next Olympics. Zambia were the continent’s only representatives in Tokyo last time out. 

Namibia have not qualified for a major finals in the past, but did play in the 2014 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations they hosted. 

Equatorial Guinea appeared at the 2011 Women’s World Cup, are twice champions of the continent in 2008 and 2012 but have never been to the Olympics. 

In fact, they have a troubled past in Olympic qualifying have been disqualified from the 2012 preliminaries for fielding an ineligible player, and then banned from the previous tournament after FIFA found them liable over the use of falsified documents for a player in the 2016 preliminaries. 

Next year’s Olympic Games will be staged in Paris from July 26-August 11. The football competition is scheduled to be played at seven venues around France. – nfa.com.na

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